It's The Little Things
by troatie
Summary: Sequel to Elephants. Pete has decided to be her gladiator, and is going to fight for her. Paddison. Mentions of other ships from the show.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to Shonda & Co.

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**1. That's What Friends Are For**

That's what friends are for. That's probably one of the most used phrases in the world. That's what friends are for. It's very useful for those moments when, after a friend has thanked you for a grand gesture, you feel like telling said friend how pissed you are for having missed whatever it was that you missed so you could do that grand gesture. But, of course, that would be mean, so you stick to "that's what friends are for", fake a smile and try to enjoy the feeling of being a good friend. Sam Bennett had uttered the famous phrase almost two hours ago, after his friend Pete informed him of a Very Important Meeting of the male section of the clinic that was taking place at his house.

"Okay, so Cooper and I will be there in two hours. Thanks, man." That's what Pete had said, an hour and forty-five minutes before. "That's what friends are for" had been his answer, but he was mentally telling Pete how much he hated him for messing up his plans with Naomi. But he was not the only one who'd used the phrase that night. Cooper Freedman had done the exact same thing when Pete told him they were going to Sam's, which meant not seeing Charlotte, which meant he hated his guts. But he didn't tell him that. He just said "That's what friends are for." Because that's what you're supposed to say. And because, like Sam, he was curious about Pete's behaviour of the past few days, and even though they'd never admit it, they loved some gossip once in a while.

But Sam and Cooper weren't the only ones who were making sacrifices in the name of friendship that night. Naomi Bennett, after telling her that "that's what friends are for", had accepted Addison's invitation for a girls' night in at her place, even though it meant she wouldn't be spending the night with Sam. And Violet Turner turned down her night of comfort food and sad movies to attend the event, not before informing Addison that "that's what friends are for." But they weren't as reluctant to accept the invitation as the men, probably because they didn't have any problems accepting their love for gossip, and they knew Addison had gone on a date days before.

Naomi was the first to arrive at Addison's house, followed closely by Violet. They were greeted with wine and they took their seats in the living room, making some small talk before diving into the real point of the reunion. No need to rush things, really. Since they were stuck there for the night, they might as well make the most of it. The wine was definitely helping with setting the mood, and they were soon laughing and talking like there was no tomorrow, completely unaware of the meeting that was taking place next door.

At Sam's house, the scene was slightly different. Pete and Cooper grabbed a beer from the fridge as soon as they set foot inside, and quickly joined Sam, sitting on the stools of the kitchen. No need to get cozy, really. They wanted to make things as quick as possible. And Pete knew that, so he went straight to the point. "So, Addison." Cooper and Sam's faces were a mix of "oh, not her again" and "of course it's her again", but neither interrupted him. "She's something... different." His friends nodded at his statement, used to Pete's serial monogamist ways. "I'm thinking about going for it."

To say they were shocked would be an understatement. First, Pete had just said he was thinking, which was shocking in itself. He wasn't famous for using his head when it came to women. And second, he'd said he was thinking about going for it, which meant there was a possibility of him not being talking about sex. And that was just not normal. "Going for it?" Sam was the first to bounce back after the initial shock. "Thinking about it?" Cooper wasn't far behind. Pete smirked slightly, because he'd been equally shocked when he acknowledged his thoughts. "Yeah, I think it could work. I want it to work. I need a plan, don't want to mess it up." So he was serious? The three men took a sip of their beers, two of them trying to come back from the land of the shocked, and the other just waiting for them to come back.

A few feet away, on a nearly identical house, the three women decided it was time to start with the real reason for the meeting. Naomi spoke as she refilled her glass, shooting Addison a smirk. "So, how was the date with Hot Cop?" Right. The date. She wasn't even thinking about it. "It was great, Kevin is great, we had a great time." Violet, being tipsier than the other two, spoke between sips. "You know, when you say great three times in the same sentence, it kinda means something wasn't great." Addison laughed before speaking again "Alcohol turns you into a very wise woman. But really, it was great. Perfect, even." This time, it was Naomi who doubted Addison's sincerity "How do you make perfect sound like a bad thing?"

"I don't know, it was too perfect. Boringly perfect. I'm starting to think I'm a glutton for punishment." Naomi nodded in agreement, but Violet, displaying her alcoholic wiseness, tried to sound nonchalant as she spoke again. "You know who's not boring or perfect? I'll give you a clue: it starts with a 'P' and ends with a 'ete Wilder'" Naomi laughed at what she thought was a ridiculous theory, but then she saw Addison's guilty face. "Pete! Again?" Addison shifted on her seat, slightly uncomfortable. "No, not again." True, not again. Because it was the new Pete, not the old Pete. "I mean, I don't know, maybe..." She downed her drink, hoping the wine would wash away her sudden confusion. Naomi followed her, hoping the wine would give her some patience. And Violet did the same thing, just because she felt like it.

A few feet away, at Sam's house, Sam and Cooper had finally gotten over the initial shock and were now helping Pete with the plan, after he convinced Sam that he wasn't going to hurt her, and Cooper that he wasn't going to let her hurt him. "You know her, give me some clues." He was talking to Sam, who shrugged before answering. "I don't know, she likes shoes." Trying to be useful, Cooper added his own suggestion. "And the green thing, whatever it is. She likes that thing." Pete sighed in frustration. "So I'll just give her a shoe and a glass of green thing and she'll be mine forever, right?" He couldn't hide the sarcasm in his voice. "Okay, let's do some brainstorming." Sam grabbed a notepad from the counter and handed it to Pete, who looked at them in expectation.

Cooper and Sam took turns at speaking, and Pete wrote down everything they said. "Shoes" "Green thing" "Non-rainy days" "Obstetrics" "Clothes" "Shopping" "Coffee" "Being the best" "Babies" "Dancing" "Her car" "More coffee?" At that, Pete turned the sheet of paper into a ball and threw it on the floor. "Okay, not working. Let's try again. Addison is..." The other two men started again. "Tall" "A redhead" "Hot" "An OB/GYN" "From Connecticut" "Smart" "Naomi's best friend" "A coffee-drinker?" Pete let out a sigh of defeat. This was going to be a long night.

Back at her house, Addison was still trying to make her friends see she wasn't completely insane. "I was wrong about him, all right? He's not a jerk, and I don't think standing me up is such an unforgivable sin after all." Naomi looked at her friend and spoke slowly, as if she was finding it difficult to keep her cool. "So, you're saying that after everything you've been through, and here I'm including Pete, you finally find a perfect man, and you want to dump him for the one you downgraded to acquaintance three weeks ago?" Addison shook her head, slightly frustrated.

If only she could tell her what happened that night in Violet's office. If only she could tell her about the fireworks postcard. But, for some reason, she felt as if that was between her and Pete, and she didn't feel comfortable sharing it with anyone else. "I don't know, Nai. I'm confused. I'm not saying I want to marry him tomorrow, just... I don't know, I'm leaving the door open." Naomi still didn't look convinced, but Violet encouraged the redhead. "I say go for it. He's a great guy, and it's not as if you had to stop seeing Hot Cop. You can see how things go, maybe a second date will change your mind, or maybe Pete will do something about it." Addison was seriously considering getting Violet drunk more often. She truly was worth listening to when she'd had a couple glasses of wine.

"You've known her for years, Sam, how on earth can you know nothing about her?" Pete was exasperated. They'd been at it for hours, and he still had nothing. "I don't know, it's not as if she talked a lot about herself." Pete couldn't help but smile at that. He beamed with pride as he thought about the night when she'd told him everything she'd wanted to. Cooper was the next one to speak. "You're the one who likes her, you tell us what you like about her." Sam nodded enthusiastically at his brilliant idea, and Pete hesitated for a moment before talking again. "Well, she's gorgeous." He didn't want to talk too much about it, just in case something about their secret little night slipped out. "And passionate. And she's funny in her own sarcastic way. And she's unnervingly arrogant, and bossy. And she's scarily perfectionist."

"That's it!" Pete got off his stool "That's it, she's a perfectionist!" His friends looked at him as if he'd gone completely insane. Cooper was the first one to speak. "And your point?" Pete looked at him as if he was the thickest man on earth. "She's a perfectionist. What do perfectionists obsess over? The little things. It's the little things!" It was Sam's turn to question his sanity. "I'm not following you." Pete was beginning to look exasperated. "It's not about big gestures. It's not about sweeping her off her feet right away. It's about the little things. It's about little things that add up to the big thing. The fireworks." Sam and Cooper still didn't quite get where he was going, but Pete was too excited to notice. "It's the little things! Thanks for the talk, it helped a lot." And he was gone before they could finish saying "That's what friends are for."

Between Addison and Violet, they'd finally convinced Naomi. She was no longer against her friend leaving the door open for something to happen with Pete. And, since Addison didn't seem to be too willing to talk about the reasons for her sudden change of mind regarding her co-worker, Violet asked her about the date again. "We had a good time. He took me out to dinner, and we talked about our jobs, and LA... you know, small talk. And then he drove me home." "Did he kiss you?" Naomi couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed of sounding like a teenage girl, but then again, they hadn't really been touching mature topics that night. "Yeah, he did kiss me." This time, Violet was the one who asked for more. "How was it?"

"It was good. Very gentleman-like. I have no complaints." Except for the lack of fireworks, that is. And the fact that she didn't seem to be able to focus on her date instead of Pete. But they didn't need to know that. "Good. Good kisses are good." Addison and Naomi laughed at Violet's state. Her eyes were starting to close, and her empty glass was slipping from her hand. "It may be time to call it a night." Addison agreed with her friend. "She can stay here, I don't think she'd be able to get to her place." After pulling a blanket over Violet, Addison walked Naomi to the door. "Thanks for coming over, Nai." Her friend smiled at her hugged her as she answered. "That's what friends are for." As she walked towards her car, Naomi turned around and spoke again. "Addie? What changed your mind about Pete?" Thinking about the postcard that was now resting on her nightstand, she smiled at her and answered her question. "Nothing, really. Just the little things."

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So, I'm kind of addicted to this thing. It's really good for the PrP withdrawal, I recommend it to everyone who's suffering because of the lack of Paddie & co. in their screens. And it's also very good for procrastinating, because I can tell myself I'm doing intellectual work and not wasting my time :P

A/N: Please read and review! Constructive criticism is love, and I don't mind the compliments either :)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I wish I owned Pete, though. And Addie. For completely different reasons.

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**2. Games and coffee**

Addison was already dressed for work when she went downstairs to the living room. She had to stiffle a laugh when she saw Violet hadn't moved a single muscle since she'd left her asleep on the couch last night. She'd always been a restless sleeper, and she couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to sleep like a log, all night in the same position. She made coffee and walked over to the living room, carrying a mug on each hand. Placing one of the mugs under Violet's nose, she waited until she opened her eyes and shoot her a cheerful smile "Hello, Sunshine!". Violet wasn't very pleased about being woken up, and she let Addison know by giving her a death glare.

"Well, aren't we a little bit grumpy. At least I wake my couch guests with coffee, you could learn from my mad hostess skills." Groaning, Violet sat up and drank her coffee, willing the hangover to go away. "Is Naomi here?" Addison sat down next to her and took a sip from her coffee, feeling her morning mood improve with the warm liquid. "Are you saying I'm not enough company? I'm hurt. Really, truly hurt." She emphasized the last word with an over dramatic expression on her face. "I like you better when you're miserable." Addison smiled sweetly at her friend. "I like you better when you're drunk." The reason Violet wanted to know if Naomi was there was, as she later told Addison, that she'd drove her to her place the night before, so she'd be needing a ride home before work.

Addison pulled over on Violet's driveway and, just as she walked towards the front door and the redhead was about to drive to the practice, she saw a familiar face smiling at her from the other side of the window. "Pete, hey!" she rolled down the window and returned his smile with one of her own. "What are you doing here? I hope you're not cheating on me with a real shrink." She chuckled at his cocky smirk, and answered with a hint of playfulness in her voice. "I am, actually. I just drove her home after our night of passion." It was his turn to laugh now, and she couldn't help but notice how close he was getting, and how incredibly attractive his laugh was. "What about you? Cheating on me with my own shrink mistress?"

She was sporting one of those beaming smiles, the ones that made it very hard for him to concentrate. But this time, since he was already thinking about her, it didn't bother him nearly as much. "Exactly. I needed to talk to someone without an Y chromosome." Pete smirked at the fake indignant look on her face, and didn't give her time to make a sarcastic remark. "And, before you tell me how lousy a friend I am, I should tell you you would have been my first choice if you weren't what I wanted to talk about." He wanted to talk about her? What are you supposed to say after someone tells you something like that? "I see leaving Addison Montgomery speechless wasn't impossible, after all."

His smirk grew wider, and if she hadn't had an amazing amount of self-control, she probably would have blushed. "Holistic quacks aren't supposed to be this cocky." He smiled at the teasing tone of her voice. "Hotshot surgeons aren't supposed to be this flirty." He knew he was winning, and he was enjoying the feeling. "I'm not being flirty." Okay, so maybe she was. But she definitely wasn't the only one. "It sure looks like you are." He already had his best cocky grin in place, waiting for her to sigh exasperated as she'd done more than once before when he won at one of their little banters. "Believe me, Pete, you'll notice when I get flirty." He didn't have to admit his defeat, because his face had probably spoken for him. If he'd been able to find his voice, he would have told her she'd cheated. He was pretty sure using that sexy almost-whispering voice and shooting him an inviting look was against the rules. And, if it wasn't, it should be. With the innocent smile back on her face, Addison brought him back from his thoughts. "Good luck with the talking. See you at the meeting." And, with that, she drove away.

He was still smiling when he walked into Violet's house. "She won." Violet looked amused. "Again? You need to work on your self-control." She knew about the little game her co-workers had going on. The shameless flirting mixed with just the exact amount of friendship that made it seem like an innocent game if you didn't know what was going on. But Violet knew. In fact, she was the only one who knew exactly what was going on. And when she said the only one, she really meant the only one. She was the only one who knew both sides of the story. "It's hard to win when she does that thing with the eyes and the voice." He poured himself a glass of juice as she got changed in her bedroom. "Please, don't tell me she got you again with the sultry voice. I thought you'd be used to it by now."

He was pretty sure he'd never get used to it. "Well, I'm apparently not used to it yet." In her room, Violet shook her head. Sometimes he wondered if Pete had any self-control at all. "So, girls' night in last night?" He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Yep. It was fun, lots of wine." He spoke again as she stepped outside of her room, ready for work. "How was the date with Officer Pretty?" Grabbing an apple, she followed him outside. "It's HotCop, Pete. And you know I'm not telling you." He knew she wouldn't tell, but it was worth a shot. "I'll win the next round." Violet chuckled as she got in her car. "It'd be a first." Laughing, he got in his own car and rolled down the window to answer. "I have absolutely nothing against firsts." And then he drove to the clinic, thinking about the moment when he'd handed her the picture. It might have been an unofficial match, but he'd definitely won that time. And he intended to win again.

The smile still hadn't disappeared from Addison's face when she sat at the table, ready to start the morning meeting. She was good at the game, and it was always good for her ego to win. She was finding this flirting thing surprisingly enjoyable. Not that she didn't wonder if they were going anywhere, though. She'd like to know if it was more than just a game. But she wasn't about to ruin it, at least not yet. She was having too much fun for that. The rest of the doctors started taking their seats, and the meeting started. Pete caught her looking at him a few times, but since she'd caught him doing the same, they agreed to let it go as a tie.

It had been an uneventful day at the clinic. Only a handful of patients, and none of them had been hard to deal with. Addison and Pete worked together on one of her patients, and she'd effortlessly won that match, this time with the help of her (and his) favorite innocent look and a sweet "Don't worry, next time I have a sleep over I'll make sure you're invited". The third round, however, went to Pete, who was beginning to think her office was the only place where he could keep his impulses under control. It all started when he saw Officer Pretty walking into her office. He'd decided he was fine with her dating him, because he wanted to give her the chance to choose for herself. He didn't want to think she'd chosen him for lack of other options. The cristal walls of her office let him see they were laughing and having a good time, and he decided it was time for one of his "little things".

Thinking back to the brainstormin session, and quickly putting the shoes and the green stuff off the table, he decided to go with the coffee. He knew what her favorite was, and he certainly didn't mind driving for 15 minutes to get to the very special coffee shop where her very special coffee was sold. She was such a snob when it came to coffee. And he liked that about her, he enjoyed seeing her be so passionate about the silliest things. He was back to the practice 40 minutes later, and he was glad to see Officer Pretty was out of the picture. He walked into her office, coffee in hand, and smiled at her. She was already smiling when she saw him, but her grin broadened when she saw the coffee in his hand. "I didn't know you liked that coffee."

"I don't. But you do." He shoot him one of his charming smiles, and handed it to her. After taking a sip, she smiled at him and spoke again. "How did you know? There are a million different kinds. How did you know this was my favorite?" It was working. He was going to win this time. "I listen to you. All the time. Even when you think I'm not paying attention. I can't not pay attention to you." She was surprised to see there was no cocky smirk in sight. Not a single hint of him being joking. "Oh." There it was. He'd won. "And that's how it's done." There he was, cocky arrogant Pete in all his glory. She smiled, thankful for him setting a lighter mood. "Do you always have to ruin the moment with your holistic cockiness?"

He was already walking out of her office when he turned around to answer. "It's part of my charm." She closed her eyes as she took another sip of her favorite coffee, courtesy of her favorite quack, with a smile playing on her lips. It really was part of his charm.

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Thank you so much **Carolina 1986, raes, AddielovesMen, agentaddek, jb916 and Chloe** for your nice words! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic, you guys really make me keep writing :)

A/N: Please read and review! Constructive criticism is love, and good reviews don't hurt either :P


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. It all belongs to the genius that is Shonda.

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**3.**** Their friendly time of the day**

It had been a week since Pete's coffee-induced victory in the game he shared with Addison, and he hadn't won a single round after that. Not that he was trying too hard to win. He couldn't say he didn't enjoy seeing her win, especially not when she shoot him one of her arrogant smirks afterwards. He loved those smirks. And he also loved her warm smiles, which is why he'd started driving for a bit longer every morning just so he could stop by the coffee shop and give her a cup before the morning meeting. Was seeing an arrogant smirk worth letting her win? Yes. Was being the target of a warm smile worth waking up 15 minutes earlier than normal? Definitely.

Pete arrived at the clinic, as everyday for the past week, with a coffee in his hand and a smile on his face, already anticipating the reward for his gesture. He walked towards Addison's office before stopping at his own, as always, but something was different that morning. Addison wasn't alone. And Pete had to resist the urge to smash the cup against the cristal wall. He was fine with her dating, but the mornings were his thing. And now that pretty little cop was using _his_ Addison time, enjoying _his_ Addison smiles and stealing _his_ Addison morning moments. And that was more than he was willing to accept.

He knocked on the door and walked inside, trying to look as neutral as possible. "Morning, Addison. Kevin." After shooting him a fake smile, he walked towards her. "I hope I'm not interrupting, I just wanted to give you this while it's still hot." The same fake smile stayed on his face when he handed her the cup. He was not happy. "Thanks, Pete. You're the highlight of my mornings." Her tone was slightly sarcastic, but then again, it always was. She didn't want to let him see how true her words were, and he didn't need the words anyway. Just the smile. Which, apparently, wasn't going to happen that morning. He was almost ready to go when she took the first sip of her coffee and smiled at him. There it was. The highlight of _his_ mornings.

When he left her office, instead of going into his, he decided to visit Violet, the only one of his friends who wouldn't laugh at his mysery. "Did she have a date with Pretty Boy last night?" Violet looked up from the file she was reading. "It's HotCop. But yes. Why?" He sat on the couch and spoke again. "Did he drive her here today?" He didn't want to think about her having spent the night at his place. "No. Why, Pete?" Violet's voice demanded an answer. "He's in her office. Talking to her. I was just wondering." She sighed before sitting next to her friend. She hated seeing him like this. "Pete, if you want something to happen, maybe you should tell her. She's not supposed to be able to read your mind, is she?" "It's too soon. We're not ready for the fireworks yet."

Violet didn't know what he was talking about, but she didn't have the time to ask before he spoke again. "In a fight between a manly gladiator and a pretty cop, who would win?" She was even more confused now. "The gladiator, I guess..." And she supposed it was the right answer, because Pete smiled at her as she stood up. "Yeah. Thanks, Vi." And, with that, he walked towards the meeting room, leaving his very confused friend to her thoughts.

Addison was surprised when she didn't catch Pete looking at her at the morning meeting. She was even more surprised when he didn't catch her as she looked at him. And she could hardly believe it when he didn't make a big deal out of winning that round. That's why she didn't wait for him to talk to her and went to his office instead. "Hey. What's wrong?" He smiled at her. The same fake smile as before. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. How's Pretty Boy? I hear you guys are very happy together." Ohh. So that was it. She couldn't help but smile at his fake neutral act, especially now that she knew what was going on. "A little jealous, are we?" He did his best to look unaffected by her comment. "Why would I be jealous? As your friend, I celebrate your happiness." Her smile grew wider by the second. He was jealous. And she liked it.

"Well, I'm glad you're not jealous, because Kevin and I are far from together." His smile gave him away. "Oh, you were _so_ jealous." He figured there really was no point in denying it. "As your friend, I really am happy for you. You deserve to have fun." She smiled at him, even though she was secretly disappointed for him not being a bit more jealous. "So, if you're not together, what are you guys exactly? I'm asking out of friendly curiosity, of course." His usual smirk was on his face, and she was glad to see things were back to normal. "We're friends. Kevin is my friend."

Now that he knew Pretty Boy wasn't a real threat, he felt in the mood for a round of their favorite game. With his best teasing voice, he spoke again. "Well, you don't go on dates with all your friends, do you? I think that makes him at least a special friend." She wasn't even thinking about the game when she replied. "I don't go on dates with all my friends. But I've dated many people, and I've only played shrinks once." He had to admit, not only had she won that round, but she'd also won in the most spectacular way. It took all his self-control not to kiss her, but he made himself wait. He was serious when he told Violet they weren't ready for the fireworks yet, and he wanted to give her what she deserved. And he also felt the need to lighten the mood before she noticed what he was thinking.

"Mornings are our friendly time of the day. I don't appreciate you cheating on me with another friend on our friendly time of the day." She smiled at his attempt to shoot her an offended glare. "It won't happen again. I have great respect for our friendly time of the day." His fake glare stayed on his face. "And you owe me one friendly time of the day." "Actually" she said with a thoughtful look on her face "since we're spending time being friendly, I'd say this qualifies as friendly time of the day." With an overly dramatic expression on his face, as if he was shocked at her statement, he opened the door motioning for her to walk out. "No more special coffee for you." She tried to suppress a smile as she walked out. "Evil quack." He accompanied his last words before closing the door on her face with an amused smirk. "You love it."

After a fairly uneventful afternoon, Addison walked into Naomi's office and sat on a chair. "Kevin came over earlier today." Naomi looked at her friend, knowing something was up. "He asked me to go out with him again tonight." She didn't really know what to say. "What did you say?" Addison sighed before answering. "I said yes. But I'm going to cancel." Naomi looked confused. "What? Why?" Addison didn't answer, and Naomi knew what was wrong. "Addie, if you want something to happen with Pete, you should tell him. And if you don't, you have to stop thinking about him and give Kevin a real chance." Addison shook her head. "I don't want to rush things, Pete and I are friends now, and it's going great. And Kevin is perfect." A small smile appeared on her face as she said the next words. "But I love my morning coffee." Naomi suspected morning coffee was code for Pete, but before she could ask, Addison had wished her good night and walked out.

Addison looked confused at the menu in front of her. After canceling her date with Kevin, she'd drove to a tea shop that a certain holistic therapist had mentioned as his favorite, and she was now trying to figure out what his drink of choice was. She wasn't too interested in tea, which is why she hadn't payed too much attention to him when he explained what his favorite was, and now she wished she had. After thoroughly studying the menu and mentally crossing off the ones that didn't ring a bell at all, she ordered a cup of the ten varieties that were still a possibility and proceeded to taste them, hoping to recognize at least one of them as Pete's favorite.

After about half an hour of careful consideration, she chose the one that she thought was the correct answer, and ordered a cup to go. She drove to Pete's house feeling slightly nervous and hoping he wasn't out on a date. Or in with a date, which would be infinitely worse. She took a moment to calm down as she parked on his driveway, and knocked on his door, mentally asking the universe to let things go well just this one time. It was hard to say who looked more surprised when Pete opened the door. He certainly wasn't expecting her to be there, but she wasn't expecting to find a man in sweat pants and an old t-shirt to look that good either.

Pete was the first to bounce back after the shock, and the first thing he noticed was the cup of tea on her hand. Smiling slightly, he broke the silence. "I didn't know you liked tea." She matched his smile with one of her own. "I don't. But you do." She handed it to him, and spoke while he took the first sip. "It's a present in the spirit of friendship. Hopefully the nice tea will help you forgive me for..." she stopped talking when she saw the look on his face. "You don't like it? Oh, God, I'm sorry. I tried ten different teas to see which one tasted like the one you drink, but I guess I messed up." Pete looked amused. "I appreciate the gesture. I forgive you for giving Pretty Boy my friendly time of the day." She smiled in relief. "Are you busy? I still owe you a friendly time of the day."

He lead her to the living room and sat next to her on the couch. He had to resist the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "What are we watching?" She'd grabbed a handful of the popcorn he'd been eating when she knocked on the door, and he smiled at her. He definitely liked this friendship thing. "Baseball. It's a classic 1979 game." She shrugged slightly. "I've never understood this sport." He had to laugh at that, and he proceeded to explain the rules to Addison, who focused on giving him her undivided attention. When the game ended, and after Addison had made him promise he'd teach her how to play some other time, they let a comfortable silence settle between them as they watched the commercials before the next game started.

Pete was slightly startled when he heard her voice. "What are we doing?" He knew what she meant, and it took him a moment to answer. "We're being friends." She nodded before speaking again. "Just friends?" He kept looking at the tv, even though he wouldn't have been able to tell you what he was watching if his life depended on it. "No." She smiled slightly. "We're getting ready." Her smile grew wider, and she unconsciously moved slightly closer to him. "We really are." He smiled at her, feeling better than he had in a long time. "You hate tea." She didn't have to answer, he already knew that. "And you tasted ten different teas trying to find my favorite." She let out a small chuckle, remembering the strange looks of the other customers at the tea shop. "We are getting ready." And, this time, he did wrap his arm around her shoulders.

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Happy New Year and thank you for your kind words, **raes, Kate, Chloe, JenniferLauren, AddielovesMen, jb916, hopelessromantic28 and Ciaobella06**! I'm really glad to hear you liked the last chapter, and I hope this one won't disappoint you :)

I'm not sure about this chapter, I want them to take their time getting together, but I also wanted to move forward a bit :P I hope it wasn't too cheesy. It's my first time writing something like this, so please let me know what you think! Happy New Year, everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

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**4. Life Is Full Of Surprises**

The doctors of the Oceanside Wellness Group gathered in the small kitchen, drinking coffee, seemingly deep in thought. After a few moments, Cooper broke the silence. "I say they're doing it." "Cooper!" Naomi sounded almost offended. "What? It's the only logical answer." She took another sip of her coffee before she replied. "Maybe they really are doing the friends thing." After a moment of consideration, both doctors shook their heads. "Nah." They were still trying to come up with a satisfactory theory when Sam walked into the room. "What are we doing?" Naomi was the one who answered his question. "Pondering the complexities of human relationships." At Sam's confused expression, Cooper decided to clarify. "Pete and Addison: Are they or are they not doing it?"

Sam laughed at his friend as he grabbed a cup of coffee. "They are not, Pete would have told us." Cooper shook his head. "You haven't seen what we have seen." Sam looked questioningly from his friend to Naomi. "Well, it's definitely not normal, Sam." He took a sip of his coffee as he waited for one of them to elaborate. "They've been doing that thing for a week, coming here and being... cheerful. And friendly." Sam arched his eyebrow. "You'd understand if you'd seen it." He'd been having house calls early in the morning for the past week, and apparently he'd been missing pretty important events.

After letting out an exasperated sigh, Naomi looked around as if looking for answers, and spotted a silent Violet. "You know something and you're not telling us!" Violet was slightly startled at Naomi's voice. "I know nothing." It was Cooper's turn to look at her now. "Ohh she really does know. You have to share. We're a co-op, that's how we roll." Violet shook her head. "Doctor-patient confidentiality. Ever heard of it?" "They aren't your patients!" Everyone looked at Sam after he spoke. "What? I wanna know too." Trying to divert their attention, Violet spoke again. "They're both insane, I'm a psychiatrist, they qualify as my patients." Naomi was about to reply, but Cooper didn't let her. "Shh! Here he comes!"

Pete stepped out of the elevator with a smile on his face. Walking into the kitchen, he placed a cup of coffee on the counter and leaned his back against it, looking curiously at the four people who seemed to be determined to look nonchalant. "Morning." It was as if he'd broken some kind of spell. "Oh, hey, Pete!" "Morning." "Good morning, Pete!" "Pete, hey!" His expression was even more curious now, but he shrugged it off. They'd been acting weird for a week, and he didn't have the time to give it a second thought. He was too busy thinking about the only doctor who hadn't arrived yet.

Everyone turned to look at the door as they heard the sound of high heels getting closer. Pete's smile grew wider and was instantly replaced with a smirk as he saw Addison walk into the kitchen, a cup of tea in her hand. After sending a smile his way, Addison's eyes looked questioningly at the rest of her co-workers, who were acting weirder than usual. "Good... morning?" Pete had a feeling of deja vu as they came back down to earth for the second time that day. "Morning, Addison!" "Oh, hey, Addie!" "Addison." "Morning." She laughed to herself as she took her usual spot against the counter, in front of Pete.

Pete's smirk was back in place, and he folded his arms over his chest as he shoot her a playful look. Cooper saw it, and silently pointed Sam towards them, with a face that clearly said "you'll see what we mean in a second." After a moment of silence, Pete leaned slightly forward towards Addison. "All right, Montgomery. Double play." She smiled at him and thought for a moment before answering with a teacher's pet air that would have made Cristina Yang hide in embarrassment. "Making two outs during the same play action." He smiled and handed her the cup of coffee. She held it in one of her hands as she used the other to point at her feet. "Wilder?"

Pete's eyes followed the direction of her hand, stopping to look at her legs for a split second before giving her feet his undivided attention. After a moment, he looked back up and mimicked her tone from before. "Prada." She rewarded him with a beaming smile and the cup of tea that had been resting on the counter behind her. "Nicely done." He touched his cup to hers and replied with a nod. "Right back at you." With that, they left for their offices to get ready for the morning meeting, leaving three very confused doctors (and a not-so-confused Violet) in the kitchen.

"They really are doing it!" Sam was the first to speak after they'd left. "See? I told you." Naomi was about to say something, but Violet didn't let her start. "Will you drop it already? They're friends, they talk about things they like. Like baseball, and shoes. Everything doesn't revolve around sex!" After a moment of shocked silence, Cooper opened his mouth to talk, but Violet shoot him a killer glare. "Don't even think about it, Cooper." As soon as she walked out, Cooper spoke again. "Definitely doing it." Having nothing else to add, Sam and Naomi followed him to the meeting room, ready to get to work.

Addison's day was being far from relaxed. Apparently all her patients had agreed to have their babies on the same day, and Dell kept telling her he'd heard her cell phone ring, but she couldn't steal a moment to go answer it. After he'd popped his head into her office to let her know her phone was ringing for the sixth time, she sighed in frustration. "Listen, Dell, just answer it the next time someone calls. If they're not in labor or almost dead, tell them I'll call them back and throw the damn thing away!" Dell did what she said, slightly scared of the redhead's temper. She could be intimidating sometimes.

Pete walked into her office after lunch to help her with her next patient, who was interested in an alternative birthing experience. It was her third patient that day, and she was slightly stressed out. "Wow, Montgomery, I thought you used to be the queen of the vagina squad. Charlotte's right, we've made you soft." She tried to look as infuriated as possible when she looked at him, but his charming smile was making it very hard. "I used to have a staff. A staff of nurses and doctors. And now it's just me, with a holistic quack who makes special appearances." He laughed at her pretend bad mood. "Who is very loved by the pregnant women, if I may say so myself."

She was ready to reply when Dell knocked on the door and stepped inside. "I'm sorry, Addison, but they say it's important." If looks could kill, he would have been more than dead after Addison's glare. "Is someone in labor, Dell?" He shook his head. "Is someone dead?" "No, but..." Addison crossed her arms over her chest as Pete looked amused at the scene in front of him. "Well, then, tell them I'll call them back!" Dell sighed in frustration before leaving the room. "Well, well, aren't we cheerful today." Addison's glare told Pete it would be better to get to work if he didn't want to get hurt.

They delivered a healthy baby boy after an easy and uneventful birth, and Addison's mood had visibly improved in the last two hours. As Pete went back to his office to meet a patient, Addison walked into the kitchen to drink a glass of juice and was greeted by Violet and Naomi. After a few minutes of silence, Naomi finally asked what had been bothering her for days. "What's going on between you and Pete?" Addison looked slightly startled by the direct question, but that didn't stop a smile appearing on her face as soon as she heard his name. "We're being friends."

"Come on, we saw you today. And yesterday. And every day since the day after you canceled your date with Kevin. Something's going on." Addison chuckled at her friend's curiosity. "Nai, we're friends. He's teaching me things about sports and I'm teaching him things about shoes. Because, as friends, we like sharing our interests with each other." Her friend still didn't look convinced. "Are you sure that's all?" Addison smiled and nodded. "We're being friends, getting to know each other." Naomi had to smile when she saw her friend's beaming grin. "So you've talked about it." Addison nodded again. "And you're happy." The redhead's face lit up as she answered. "I am." It was Naomi's turn to nod. "That's all that matters. By the way, Dell was looking for you."

Addison groaned in exasperation as she went over to the front desk to talk to Dell. "What is it, Dell?" He looked up at her. "Someone's here to see you." Addison looked around, but she didn't recognize anyone in the waiting room. "They said they'd wait in your office." She looked at him with curiosity in her eyes. "Who is it?" Dell shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. They told me to tell you, and I quote" he picked up a post-it and read it out loud "that they just arrived from Seattle, that they can't wait to see you and that you would know who they were if you'd bothered to return their calls."

Addison stood there in shock. Seattle. Someone from Seattle was here. Well, of course, five minutes ago she was telling Naomi how happy she was, of course the universe had to play a cruel trick on her and send someone from that rainy hellhole into her life. "Okay..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and he slowly started walking towards her office, trying to guess who could be here.

It couldn't be Richard, Miranda or Callie, because she spoke to them fairly often and she was sure they would have told her if they were planning to visit. Yang was out of the question too, because it just made no sense. O'Malley and Stevens wouldn't dare coming here after what they'd done to Callie. They probably knew she'd kill them with her bare hands. Burke was an option, they were friends after all, but he was far too polite to come here uninvited, and they hadn't really kept in touch after the non-wedding. After discarding those options, it was time to start thinking the worst.

Karev. Mark. Derek. The non-boyfriend, the ex-mistress, the ex-husband. Derek and Grey. The ex-husband and his girlfriend. Karev and Ava. The non-boyfriend and his girlfriend. No, that would be stupid. Definitely not Karev and Ava. Derek and Grey. The ex-husband and his fiancee? The ex-husband and his wife? She was going slightly insane. The ex-husband and his girlfriend and their future baby? She shivered at the thought. It would make sense, but not even her had such bad luck. Or at least she hoped she didn't.

She was about to open the door to her office when she was startled by Pete's voice. "What's wrong?" She was thankful for the excuse to postpone the moment to face whoever it was. "I have a visitor. From Seattle." Pete looked worried. "Oh." She nodded without enthusiasm. "Yeah." He shifted nervously. He hoped it wasn't her ex-husband. Or her best friend turned lover. Or her intern turned fling. He wanted to say he knew they wouldn't be able to ruin their "thing", whatever that thing was, but he wasn't so sure. True, they were getting there, but he didn't think their friendship, as special as it was becoming, was competition for a marriage, a relationship or the beginning of a fling. A gladiator could take a pretty boy, but he wasn't so sure about those three.

He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and half-smiled at her. "They're probably ugly and pasty white. Blow their mind with your gorgeous Los Angeles tan." She smiled warmly at him, feeling slightly better, and turned the knob on the door to her office. Her face lit up as she looked at her visitor, and Pete looked down, hoping it wasn't Derek. Or Mark. Or Karev.

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Thank you so much for reviewing, **AddielovesMen, jb916, ADMM FANATICC; Chloe, hopelessromantic28, Carolina1986, raes, melanie, agentaddek, and Ciaobella06! **I'm really glad you're still reading and enjoying this, you guys make me want to update as often as I can :)

I'm trying to keep them as much in character as possible, but the Pete who lives in my head is very cute and I'm afraid he's starting to take over. Feel free to e-slap me if you don't recognize him anymore :P Oh, and also, very sorry about the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist. I think the spirit of Shonda and her two-hour specials is in my head or something :P And don't worry about the visitor, I love Addie, I'd never mess with her happiness :D


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Surprising as it is, I still own nothing.

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**5. A Blast From The Past**

Addison stood at the door, a bright smile across her face, looking at her visitor. As soon as she got over the initial shock, she walked inside, ready for a hug. "God, I've missed you so much!" Pete shook his head. It didn't sound good. It sounded as if Addison loved whoever it was that had come to visit her. He was about to go into the kitchen, where everyone else was hanging out, when he heard something that made him stop in his tracks. "For the record, I still hate you for leaving me alone in that rainy hellhole." Whoever had said that wasn't a man. It was a woman, and she sounded like she was trying hard not to cry.

Feeling instantly relieved, Pete chose to give Addison and her friend some privacy and joined his co-workers in the kitchen. As soon as he walked inside, three pairs of eyes looked at him, and Cooper was the one to talk first. "Where's Addison?" He made a mental note to ask them what was up with the weird act they'd been putting up for the last seven days. "She has a visitor. Why?" Cooper shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, and Naomi was the next one to ask. "A visitor?" Pete nodded as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "Yeah. Someone from Seattle." Naomi wanted to ask more, but she was interrupted by Addison, who walked into the room followed by a smiling brunette. "Everyone, this is Callie. Cal, this is everyone."

They all smiled and greeted her, and Pete was the first to talk after the general welcome. "So you're the famous Callie. We've heard a lot about you." The other three doctors looked confused, and Naomi couldn't help but ask. "We have?" Pete shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I have." Callie let out a chuckle as she looked at him with a smirk on her face. "You must be Pete. I heard a lot about you too." Pete cocked an eyebrow at Addison. "Oh, really? And what exactly have you..." But Addison didn't let him finish his question. "She's heard a lot about everyone." She shoot Callie a quick glare. "Those are Sam and Naomi, my..." She was the one who couldn't finish this time. "Your friends from college. And I guess you guys are Violet and Cooper, the psychiatrist and the pediatrician." The doctors nodded and smiled at her. "I _have_ heard a lot about everyone." Addison smiled proudly. Everyone seemed to like her friend. "And Callie is the person who kept me sane before I came here."

After a few minutes of small talk in which Callie told them all there was to know about her without getting into details, Addison practically dragged her out of the clinic so they could go have dinner together. She liked having everyone together, but she'd missed her friend, and she wanted her all to herself for a while. They sat at a table in one of Addison's favorite restaurants, and Callie quickly changed the subject from the wonderful Californian weather to the important matters. "So, Pete's yummy." Addison rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her. "He's not bad to look at." Callie laughed at her friend. "Oh, don't play innocent now. He's yummy. Lines of deliciousness all over him." She took a sip of her wine. "We don't have that kind of yummy in the rainy hellhole."

It was Addison's turn to laugh. "I've been trying to figure out what his McName would be if he worked there." Callie chuckled before thinking about it for a moment. "You can't sum up his yumminess in one single McName." Still laughing, Addison tried to put on a serious face, failing miserably. "Stop drooling over my yummy co-worker. You find your own yummy co-worker to drool over." Callie cocked her eyebrow at her. "Jealous?" Addison cleared her throat. "Not in the slightest." The brunette smiled to herself and decided to change subjects. "If a man with no adjectives on his name looks like that, I can't wait to meet Hot Cop." Addison laughed with her, and couldn't help but hope Callie liked Kevin better than Pete. As stupid as it was, she didn't want to share Pete's yumminess with anyone.

"You still haven't told me what made you come here." Callie smiled at her friend. "Mark Sloan is my best friend. Cristina Yang is my roommate. If that doesn't make a woman want to go away for a weekend, I don't know what does." Addison chuckled slightly. She knew it also had something to do with her marriage, but they had an unspoken pact about not mentioning the ex-husbands. "So you and Mark are friends? Close friends?" From what she knew after talking to her on the phone, Callie had a soft spot for Mark. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Montgomery. He's my friend. Besides, he wants Hahn." Addison faked an innocent look. "Right, you're friends. Just friends. You don't find him steamy at all." That comment earned her a playful glare. "Do you really wanna go there? Because I have some questions about your friendship with Pete." At that, Addison decided to change the subject.

Callie and Addison were still talking when they finished eating. They talked on the ride to her place, and also while Callie unpacked her clothes in Addison's guest room. When she was settled in, Addison opened a bottle of wine and the two friends sat on the couch. Addison had already shared all the gossip about the clinic, and it was Callie's turn to update her on the happenings at the hospital. An hour later tears were rolling down Addison's cheeks and she was clutching her sides, trying to stop laughing so she could take a breath. They had opened a second bottle of wine, and Callie was in the middle of her story. "... so the kid comes over to Mark, and he's like 'Daddy?' You should have seen his face, Shepherd was brilliant!" Callie joined Addison on her laughter, but she suddenly stopped, looking serious. "Addison."

The redhead answered while trying to control her laughter. "What?" Callie looked at her, studying her face. "You're laughing. I forgot about the pact and I was talking about Mark and Shepherd, and you're laughing." Addison's fit of laughter had finally subdued, but the smile never left her face. "That may be because I'm over it." She downed her glass of wine at that, feeling extremely proud of herself. Callie matched her smile with one of her own, and threw her arms around Addison's neck. "You're over it! There's hope in the world!" Addison giggled at that. She was pretty sure she'd drank most of the wine herself, and Callie noticed it and decided to take advantage. "Did Hot Cop help with that?"

Addison shrugged as she took a sip of her newly refilled glass. "He did, a bit." Callie smirked. She was going to have fun. "Do we like Hot Cop?" Addison nodded her head vigorously. "We like Kevin. Kevin takes us out to eat." Her friend couldn't help but laugh at her. She loved tipsy Addison. She was more likely to talk about herself than sober Addison, and she wasn't as sad as drunk Addison. Tipsy Addison was perfection. "What about Pete? Do we like Pete?" A dreamy smile appeared on Addison's face. "Oh, we love Pete. Pete makes us happy." Callie didn't laugh this time, she just smiled at her friend. "So he was the one who helped, wasn't he?" Addison nodded. "He listened. That was all I needed." Her friend hugged her again, and had to make a great effort not to cry. "I'm so happy for you."

It was noon when the doorbell rang. Callie opened one of her eyes and looked at the sleeping form on the couch, waiting for Addison to move. After a moment, the doorbell rang again, and she heard a groan that came from behind all the messy red hair that marked the spot where Addison's head was. "I'll go get it." She stood up and walked towards the door. She really couldn't blame Addison. It was almost dawn when they'd finally fallen asleep, and unlike herself, the redhead wasn't used to functioning on little to no sleep anymore. She opened the door and found herself looking at a very attractive man with a bright smile on his face.

"Hey, is Addison home? We were supposed to have lunch together." Ohh. Hot Cop. He really was hot. "Yeah, she's getting ready, she'll be here in a minute. You must be KEVIN!" Callie's scream startled Addison, who quickly looked towards the door to see what was wrong. As soon as she saw him there, she remembered their date and ran to her room to get ready, mentally thanking God for creating Callie Torres. As her friend entertained Kevin with questions about Los Angeles, Addison took a quick shower and got dressed. She didn't remember a time when she'd been that fast getting ready in the morning.

Kevin's smile broadened when he saw Addison. "Hey! I was just asking Callie to come with us since she doesn't know anyone else yet." She smiled back at him. He really was pretty perfect. "That sounds great." Callie excused herself to get dressed, and twenty minutes later the three of them were sitting in a nice restaurant, enjoying their lunch. "So, did you two go to college together?" Callie liked Kevin. He was interesting and charming, and he was determined to make both Addison and herself have a good time. "We worked together in Seattle, before she left me for the palm trees." Kevin smiled at Addison. "I didn't know you lived in Seattle, I've always wanted to go there." He didn't know?

Callie wondered if all he knew about her was that her name was Addison Montgomery. Knowing her friend and how little she told people about herself, she thought it was quite possible that was the case. "Well, I only lived there for a year. Los Angeles is much better, though. It rains a lot in Seattle." Addison was smiling at him, obviously enjoying his company. "But you know all about bad weather, right? Cal, did you know Pete's from Michigan?" Ah, there it was. She was almost missing her trademark subtle changes of subject. It was a gift of Addison's. Most people didn't even notice when she did that, and they were very confused when they realized they'd talked to her for hours and didn't know a thing about her.

When they finished eating, Callie was more than ready to give Kevin her blessing to be with Addison. He was perfect for her, really. Thoughtful, sweet, mature, and attractive. And, let's face it, the man was completely smitten. He dropped them off at Addison's and said goodbye to Callie with a charming smile, hoping her the best for the rest of her residency and asking her to come to LA again soon. Addison kissed his cheek after he promised he'd call her next week, and both friends walked into the house, grinning happily after a perfect lunch.

"You really are friends, aren't you?" Callie looked at her friend as she plopped down on the couch. Addison knew what she meant. "Yeah. No fireworks at all." Callie sighed. "I like Hot Cop. I want you to keep him." The redhead couldn't help but laugh. "I'm keeping him. As a friend. At least for now." Well, that was better. "Good. I like for now." Addison looked at her watch and stood up, motioning for Callie to do the same. "It's Saturday, everyone's coming over for the weekly Oceanside get-together, and we have to get ready." Callie laughed at her friend. "Weekly Oceanside get-together? Is being a dork a prerequisite to work at that place?" Addison laughed with her. "We prefer to be called quirky, thank you very much." Both women were still laughing when they went to their rooms to get ready.

A few hours later, the Oceanside doctors, plus Dell and Callie, gathered on the deck of Addison's house. Callie was alone at the kitchen, pouring herself a drink, and when she walked outside again she took a moment to look at the scene in front of her. Dell was sitting on a chair, stealing glances at Naomi, who was chatting animatedly with Violet. Sam and Cooper were also talking, and both groups were seemingly talking about the same thing, judging by the fact that everyone was looking at the same thing. Callie followed their look to the edge of the wooden deck, where Addison and Pete were talking and laughing together.

She looked at them for a moment, thinking about all those talks with Addison about him standing her up. And then, suddenly, a couple of weeks before her visit, something had changed and they were friends. She smiled as she saw Addison laugh happily at something he'd said. As of that moment, Kevin was her absolute favorite, but he had to admit Pete didn't look like a bad guy. But she clearly remembered Addison telling her he didn't want to get married or settle down, and she knew her friend wanted the whole domestic package. She walked over to them and overheard their conversation.

"Yeah, I did watch it, it was incredible!" Pete beamed proudly at Addison, who looked excited about whatever it was that she'd watched. "You're gonna need to pick a team soon." Addison laughed at his idea. "I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Was she talking about sports? Really? Addison? Callie was speechless. "You need to pick a designer, yourself." Pete looked amused as he opened his mouth to speak, but Addison interrupted him. "And don't say 'Jimmy Choo because it's so much fun to say' again or I'll have to hurt you." This time, they both laughed, and Callie smiled as she sat next to Addison.

Richard, Miranda and Callie were worried about the potential triangle that was forming itself around their friend. Callie's visit had one aim, and that was to stop the triangle before it got too messy. They didn't want Addison to be hurt again. Up until that moment, she had been ready to bet on Kevin. But as she sat down next to her friend, she realized a man who could get Addison interested in sports and who talked about shoes just because she liked them deserved a chance. She couldn't wait to have a talk with the famous Pete Wilder. This night was going to be fun.

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Thank you so much **AddielovesMen, Ciaobella06, JenniferLauren, raes, Kate, Melanie, agentaddek, hopelessromantic28, jb916, Chloe, aliaslostgreysfreak and EscapismRocks** for taking the time to review! It makes my day to see people read and enjoy this story :)

I told you I wouldn't mess with Addie's happiness, didn't I? It was just sweet harmless Callie :P I love her too much to leave her out of the fic, and I thought Paddie need a bit of a nudge in the right direction, so I thought I'd bring her in. But now I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I'll try to make the next one better, with more Paddie for your (and my) enjoyment :P

Please read and review! Not only are reviews nice to read, but they also help me try to write better and faster :)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Shonda and company.

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**6. He'll Do His Best  
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It took Pete and Addison a moment to notice Callie sitting next to them, but neither of them seemed too bothered by the interruption. "So, how are you liking LA so far? Do we have the best friend's approval?" Pete smiled jokingly at her, Addison had told him how important Callie was for her and how nervous she'd been about her meeting her new friends. "LA is good, and you people definitely have my approval. I can tell the Chief he can stop worrying now." She let out a small chuckle, remembering his speech before she left. He'd told her if she thought Addie was unhappy she had his permission to drag her back to Seattle. "Richard will never stop worrying, he thrives on being worried." Both women laughed as Pete talked again. "The man's Chief of surgery of one of the best hospitals in the country, and his adoptive daughter just left for a different city. I'd be worried too if I was him."

Callie smiled to herself. Pete knew about the Chief being like a father to Addison? Apparently, Addie was telling the truth when she said they were friends. Addison was the next to speak. "I'm going to get another drink, I'll be right back." Callie noticed the way she'd put her hand on his shoulder to help herself up. She also noticed the way his eyes had stayed on her until she was out of sight. As much as she hated to admit it, Pete wasn't too far behind Hot Cop on the race to be her favorite candidate.

Pete smiled at her and spoke after a moment of silence. "You can start the questioning now, I promise I won't tell her." Callie smiled back, glad to see he had a sense of humor. "Why did you stand her up?" Wow, that was direct. But he had to admit he was expecting it, sooner or later. "I was scared." It was the truth. Or, at least, the vague version of the truth, which was the only version he was comfortable talking about. "Are you still scared?" He had to admit she was good at this questioning thing. "No, I'm not scared anymore." Callie smiled at him. Right answer. "Do you really want to be just her friend?" He had to smirk at that, because he knew she already knew the answer. "No, I don't." She only needed one last question. "Do you think you can make her happy?" He saw Addison was coming over, and lowered his voice so she wouldn't hear his answer. "I'm doing my best."

Addison saw Pete whispering something to Callie, and her friend smiling warmly at him as a reply. She knew they were probably talking about her, and decided to interrupt before Callie could say too much. "Having fun?" Pete smiled at her as she sat down between her two friends. "I am indeed. Your friend is nicer than you. Not so many killer glares and sarcastic remarks." His comment earned him a light smack on his arm. "And she's not nearly as violent, either." Callie laughed at their flirting, cleverly disguised as friendship. She didn't remember a time when she'd seen Addison so happy around a man.

"So, what did you do today? Did Montgomery drag you from store to store for the whole day?" Addison's glare clearly told him he was close to receiving a second smack. "We slept till noon and then Kevin took us out to have lunch." Callie was the one who received Addison's glare this time. "Oh, _ really_? Kevin took you out? Did he woo you with his prettiness?" Callie laughed both at Pete's jealousy and at Addison's eye-rolling. "Well, he's more hot than pretty, in my humble oppinion." She was enjoying this. She knew Addison would want revenge, but it was going to be worth it. "Plus, he's quite charming, and he seems to really like our Addie." Addison was ready to kill Callie now. "So, Cal, how's Mark doing? Still steamy as always?"

Pete was slightly confused. Mark, as in Addison's Mark? Really? Seattle Grace really must have been like a soap opera. "Still steamy as always. But we were talking about Kevin, not Mark. You don't want Pete to feel left out as we talk about people he doesn't know, do you?" She was hoping to scare Addison into going back to Hot Cop territory. "Oh, don't worry about me, I know all about Mark Sloan." Addison smirked at Callie. She knew what she'd been trying to do, and her shocked expression let her know her plan had backfired. "You know?" Addison's smug smile was still on her face when she replied. "He knows. I told you, he listens." And, suddenly, Pete wasn't so worried about Pretty Boy taking her out to eat anymore.

"I think you and Mark would make a cute couple." Addison was enjoying her revenge. "I mean, come on, we both know there's absolutely no chemistry between him and Hahn." Callie shook her head. "He's a manwhore, I don't want a manwhore. Mark Sloan is not relationship material." Between Pete and Addison, they'd finally made her admit she wasn't completely indifferent towards Mark. "People change. Maybe he just needs to find the right woman." Callie was almost sure she'd seen Pete shoot Addison a meaningful look as he said that. "And look at you. You're smart, funny and sexy. I bet he's saying he wants whoever that Hahn person is so you'll get jealous and do something about it." That earned him a smile from Addison, and another one from Callie.

It was well past midnight when the doctors decided to call it a night. Cooper seemed to be quite eager to get home, so everyone assumed he had a date with a new woman with a sexy username. Violet looked bemused at the comments about Cooper and his date, but she wasn't sober enough to be really mad, and she was smiling already when Pete lead her to his car to drive her home. Sam and Naomi didn't look too sad to leave either, and Addison cocked an eyebrow at her friends when they told her Naomi was spending the night at Sam's because "she'd had a little too much to drink". Except, as Addison noted, she sounded perfectly fine. Callie later told Addison it was a good thing that Dell had left before them, and Addison had to admit she was probably right. Both friends were exhausted after the previous night, so they decided to go straight into bed as soon as everyone left.

The next morning, Callie and Addison decided to spend Callie's last hours in town relaxing at the beach in front of the house. "You know, I can't blame you for moving here. If I wasn't a resident I'd do the same thing." Addison smiled at her friend, nodding in agreement. It really was a great place to live. After a few minutes of meaningless conversation, they were interrupted by Pete, who walked towards them with a carton tray with four cups on it. "Morning, ladies." He smiled at them and Callie noticed his smile widening slightly when he handed Addison her cup. "One Montgomery special for you, and..." he turned towards Callie and handed her the tray with the other three cups. "I didn't know what you liked, so I brought you coffee, cocoa and tea." Callie smirked at him. "I may just have fallen in love with you." Pete laughed as he moved Addison's feet away so he could sit next to her. "I'm flattered, really, but I'm already taken when it comes to breakfast beverages."

"Yeah, Torres, stay away from my coffee boy." Callie couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her. They looked good together. And Addison was obviously happy, you just had to see that beaming smile on her face. "So you bring her coffee everyday? Why can't I find friends who bring me coffee?" Addison smirked at Pete as she replied. "It's not as selfless as it sounds, he gets tea in exchange. And free lessons on the fine art of shoe shopping." Callie had to laugh at that. "You talk to him about shoes? Poor Pete." It was Pete's turn to laugh. "It's not as bad as it sounds, heels make her legs look_good_." Addison glared at him, but the smirk on her face showed her real feelings on the subject. "You're a dirty, dirty man."

They kept talking for a while, and the conversation stayed in the same lighthearted tone until Callie looked at her watch and announced she had to leave soon if she wanted to catch her plane. Addison, after pouting at the news, excused herself to go get ready to drive to the airport, and Callie decided to take the chance to have one last talk with Pete.

"You're jealous of Kevin." Pete acted as nonchalant as possible. "I'm not jealous of Kevin." Callie blatantly ignored him. "You're jealous of Kevin. Why don't you tell her you don't want her to date him?" He shook his head before answering. "I want her to choose for herself. And I'm not jealous." She smiled, amused at his denial. "You are so jealous of Kevin." Pete looked serious when he spoke again. "He doesn't know her. He wants her the way I did when I met her. Because she's someone you can't not want. But she doesn't bring him tea to work, and she doesn't talk to him, and she doesn't smile at him the way she smiles at me. That's why I'm not jealous." Callie smiled warmly at him. "Then I think she's already made her choice, Pete." She winked at him as she left to get ready, leaving him to his thoughts, a small smile playing on his lips.

When the friends were ready to go, Pete offered to drive them to the airport, since his car's trunk was bigger than Addison and Callie had apparently bought presents for half of Seattle's population. They walked together towards the gate where they had to say their goodbyes, and Callie pulled Pete into a hug before he had time to react. "I'm gonna miss you, you coffee-bringing, yummy-looking holistic quack." Pete laughed as he hugged her back. "I'm gonna miss you too, you very wise advice-giving, gorgeous ortho queen." When she finally pulled away, she gave him a fake stern look. "Take care of the Addie." He smiled at her, a meaningful look on his face. "I'll do my best."

Callie then hugged Addison tightly, trying not to cry, and whispered into her hair so only Addison would hear. "It's Pete." Her friend nodded, holding back the tears. "Oh, I know." They pulled away after a moment, smiling at each other. "I'm gonna miss you at the rainy hellhole. Promise you'll go back soon so they'll believe me when I tell them you look gorgeous, tan and happy." Addison chuckled slightly. "I promise." Callie started walking towards the gate and stopped to say one last thing. "Addie?" She looked at her but didn't answer, knowing she'd probably start crying if she did. "Bring the quack with you." Callie winked at her friend, and Addison laughed as she nodded. "I'll be there, Torres." He smiled at her as he spoke, and wrapped his arm around Addison's shoulders, knowing she was about to start crying.

Callie was smiling broadly when she took her seat on the plane. Her work in Los Angeles was done.

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Thank you for your reviews, **beccarae21, Ciaobella06, raes, AddielovesMen, kenzzx2, jb916, TwoShoes, agentaddek, Melanie, hopelessromantic28 and Kate**! Your reviews really keep me going and they never fail to make me smile :)

In my happy place, Mark and Callie will be together and they'll move to LA as soon as Callie's residency is over. My happy place is a very happy place :P I hope you liked this chapter, I had fun writing it and I like it better than the last one. Probably because there's more Pete in this one :D

Please read and review, let me know what you think so I can improve :)


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Shonda owns everything.

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**7. One Step Forward**

Addison had already calmed down after seeing Callie's plane take off, but Pete's arm was still wrapped around her shoulders, and she certainly wasn't going to complain. The only bad thing about it was how hard it made it to stick to their friends-for-now arrangement. Because, really, being this close to him, Addison wasn't exactly thinking about baseball and shoes. But it wasn't her faut. It was his fault for smelling so _damn_ good, like after-shave and something exotic that she was sure had some holistic proprieties. And it was his fault for not letting go of her when they started walking towards his car, his arm pulling her slightly closer as they walked together, making her almost feel the heat radiating from his skin. It was definitely his fault.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. Thats why, while he tried to keep his mind on the friendship area, he blamed her for making it so hard to concentrate on that. Was it his fault that she'd somehow managed to be exactly the right height for his arm to fit so comfortably around her shoulders? It was definitely her fault. And it was also her fault that she smelled like some fruit he couldn't exactly pinpoint, with a hint of coffee, because when you drink as much coffee as she does, its aroma stays with you. And he loved the smell of fruit and coffee, so it was her fault for not having put on some perfume like she often did, hiding the smell of her fruity conditioner and her coffee.

As much as they would have disagreed if they'd voiced their opinions on that matter, there was something they were definitely agreeing on. The car was to blame for forcing them to pull away. They didn't know you could hate a car with such intensity. They stood in front of it for a moment after they reached it, and then Pete reluctantly moved his arm away from Addison, who took a small step away from him. They definitely hated that car, but they got in anyway, missing the small contact from before.

The comfortable silence they'd been sharing since Callie left was still there, and they both realized how often they did that, just being around each other in silence, without feeling the need to fill the space with small talk. They wondered if it was because they'd already told each other their deepest, darkest secrets, so there were no worries lurking in their silences. "I miss her already." Pete would have been startled by the sudden disappearance of the silence if her voice hadn't been barely above a whisper. "She's loud and fun and her constant smiling makes her shine. And then she leaves and it's like someone's switched off the lights. You can't not miss her." He nodded with his eyes still on the road in front of him. He knew what she meant. "You two are very much alike."

Addison smiled slightly at his words. "I'm not that loud." But she knew what he meant. And he knew she did. "You're not that fun, either. And you're more cranky than smiley anyway." She laughed at his smirk. "Yeah, so your analogy was crappy, but thanks for trying." He smiled sincerely as soon as she started laughing. She was feeling down and he made her laugh. Everything was right in the world. "It was my pleasure." She smiled as she looked out of the window, thinking about how easy it had been for him to cheer her up.

After a few minutes of the aforementioned comfortable silence, he parked the car on her driveway and followed her inside. She hadn't invited him in and he hadn't asked either, but neither noticed anything strange in walking inside together. They were friends after all, and he visited her fairly often, so it was just a natural thing for her to expect him to come in, and for him to follow her inside. "Are you hungry?" she opened the fridge and looking inside, wondering if there was something remotely edible in there. "Sure, what are you making?" She chuckled and turned around to look at him. "I'm making a phone call. Chinese or pizza?"

It was his turn to laugh. He knew she couldn't cook to save her life. "Come on, I'll cook, what do you want?" She looked at the fridge again. "What can you make with milk, two bananas, ice-cream and yogurt?" He let out a dramatic sigh. "You need to start eating like an adult, Montgomery. And will you stop sticking bananas in the fridge? We've explained it to you ten times already, they need the tropical weather." Addison chuckled at his rant. She'd heard his healthy lifestyle talks many times already, and she found them highly entertaining. "Okay, let's go." He took her hand and pulled her towards the beach. "Where are we going?" They were now walking into Sam's part of the beach. "We're raiding Sam's fridge."

They walked into the house and saw Sam and Naomi watching a movie. "Nai? What are you doing here?" Her fried blushed slightly. "Just watching a movie." Addison cocked her eyebrow at her, but Sam spoke before she could keep asking. "This is my house. What are you doing here?" Pete answered with his head inside Sam's fridge. "We need food." It was Naomi's turn to cock her eyebrow. "Why?" Addison, unlike her friend, didn't blush. "He's cooking for me." With a pile of groceries in his hands, Pete corrected her answer. "We're both cooking. Let's go." With an apologetic shrug that said "excuse my crazy friend", Addison followed him outside, leaving their friends staring confused at the door.

"They're doing it." It took Naomi a moment to regain control of her voice. "Maybe they aren't. Maybe they're..." Sam interrupted her. "In love? Because that's the only other option." She shook her head and went back to her original position, snuggled into his side. "They're doing it." Sam chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, following her gaze to the tv in front of them. "Yeah."

Addison quickly caught up with him as she followed him outside. "Do you think they're doing it?" Pete looked at her as if she'd grown two heads. "What? Why would you say that?" She held the door open for him as he walked inside with the groceries and started getting everything ready to cook. "Didn't you see them? Sharing a couch? And all the looks between them, and everything. They are doing it!" Pete shook his head. "Montgomery, you need to get your mind out of the gutter. They're friends." She rolled her eyes at him. "Sure, they're friends. How many people do you know that would be snuggled up on the couch with someone they're just friends with?" He shrugged as he finished with the preparations. "We do that." They realized it at the same time, a second after the words left his lips. "Yeah, you're right. They're friends." They both knew their friends were, indeed, doing it.

After a moment of not-so-comfortable silence, Pete turned towards Addison and handed her a pot. "Water." She smirked at him and filled the pot with water. "I can handle water. Not sure about everything else, though." He laughed and turned on the stove. "Okay, now add some salt and leave it there until it boils." She did what he said and smiled proudly. "My work here is done." He took her hand to stop her when she headed towards the tv. "I'm not cooking for you while you watch tv. Come here and be useful." She faked a sigh, but it was hard to hide the smile he'd triggered when he took her hand. "All right, Wilder, what do I do now?" He was about to hand her a knife when he changed his mind and smirked at her. "Just stay there and look pretty while I chop these things."

It took him five minutes to finish getting everything ready, and it would have been done sooner if she hadn't been rambling about being a double-board certified neonatal surgeon and being banned from the chopping by a holistic quack. "People trust me with a scalpel. People trust me to cut them open. And you come in here with your hands that heal and tell me I'm not allowed near a knife! I can handle the knife!" He was about to reply when the sound of water bubbling and splashing made them look at the pot. "You were in charge of the water, Addie! You were supposed to keep an eye on it!" She was too busy cleaning up the mess to notice he'd called her Addie. As soon as the spaghetti were in the pot and everything was under control again, he shoot her a stern look, and she replied with a guilty look on her face. "I'm not allowed near the knife."

After laughing at her for a while, he put the chopped vegetables and meat on a saucepan and placed it on the stove. "Here, stir this a bit while I drain the pasta." She took the wooden spoon from him and half-heartedly stirred the mix, looking slightly worried. "Are you sure I can be trusted with the stirring, Pete?" He chuckled at her and placed his hand on hers around the spoon. "You wanna do it like this, because..." He regretted his gesture almost instantly. There it was, the smell, and the closeness, and the sudden urge to grab her and forget about the cooking. He wasn't the only one who wasn't thinking about food anymore. "I think I got it." Her voice was barely audible, and she regretted her words as soon as she felt his hand move away from hers. "I'll go get the pasta."

Twenty minutes later, Pete and Addison sat at a table on her deck, enjoying a nice plate of spaghetti. After an appreciative sound, she smiled at him. "I'm an amazing cook." He laughed and nodded emphatically. "You're an amazing cook." She smirked playfully as she took a sip of her wine. "You're not completely useless, yourself." His fake offended look only made her smirk widen. "Just eat before I downgrade you to water duty again." She had to laugh at that. She was proud of her successful stirring, and she knew he was, too.

When they were done eating, and after sharing the dishwashing duties, Addison walked him to the door. "I had fun tonight. Thanks for helping me with the cooking." He smiled at her. "It was my pleasure. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun with a surgeon." She chuckled and then smiled warmly at him, sending shivers down his spine. Without giving it a second thought, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. It was short and sweet, and different from any of their previous kisses. His lips only stayed on hers long enough for her to respond, and they were both smiling when he pulled away. "Good night." His voice was soft, as if he was scared of breaking the spell. "Night, Pete."

As he drove towards his house, a broad smile still on his face, Addison sat on her deck looking at the sea, an equally broad smile playing on her lips. They really were getting there.

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Thank you **agentaddek, jb916, Melanie, Effie, EscapismRocks, hopelessromantic28, Ciaobella06, raes, AddielovesMen and ADMM FANATICCC** for your wonderful reviews! I know I wouldn't have gotten this far writing this fic if it wasn't for you!

Okay, so this chapter was pure fluff, because... well, I'm in a fluffy mood :P And because I wanted happy Addie, because happy Addie makes me happy :) For those of you who said you wanted Paddie going to the rainy hellhole... well, I'm pretty sure it's going to happen. I just don't know when :P


	8. Chapter 8

**8. Fight like a gladiator**

Addison Montgomery was going slightly insane. She shifted on her seat for the millionth time since she'd gotten in the car and tried not to look at the carton cup that rested on the seat next to hers. Pete's tea. Pete. She'd woken up that morning with a smile on her face, and it took her a moment to remember the event that had apparently glued that smile to her face forever. The wonderful non-date that felt very much like a date and had ended like only great dates ended. With a kiss. And that's what was making her go insane.

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable about the kiss. Or that she was worried about the impact of said kiss in their relationship. Or that she hadn't liked the kiss. What worried her was the lack of worries. How incredibly right it had felt. How perfectly short and almost friendly. How it made her feel like there were more to come, like they would be repeating it forever, like there was no need to rush, because they had all the time in the world. He wasn't going anywhere. What worried her was knowing she'd never felt like this before. She'd never felt so sure, or so safe. It was a first, and as amazing as this first in particular was, firsts made her nervous.

She wasn't feeling any calmer when she stepped out of the elevator at the clinic. She didn't think she could pull off the whole flirting game today. Not when she felt like she was walking a very fine line between being in control and completely losing it. Today, she was fairly sure one of his smirks would be enough to push her over the edge. And she didn't know if he was ready to catch her after he made her fall. Maybe he needed more time. Maybe a month had been enough for her, but he needed more time.

As worried as she was about seeing him, she was even more worried when she _didn't_ see him. Her mind immediately filled with possibilities. Him freaking out after the kiss. Him noticing she felt something and deciding to stay away. Him deciding not to bring her coffee in case she thought they were something more than friends. "Addison." She blinked in surprise at the sound. "Addison, are you all right?" Naomi sounded like she'd been asking the same thing for a while. "Yeah... I'm fine." Her friend looked slightly suspicious, but didn't say anything else. "Have you seen Pete?" Naomi shook her head. "Sam said he had a thing to do."

Addison decided to focus on her friend's love life instead of her own. Because her own love life was driving her insane. "What's up with you and Sam?" Naomi looked like a little girl who'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Nothing's going on with me and Sam, why would you say that?" Addison smiled at her. "You're happy." Naomi frowned at her friend. "I'm not happy. Stop saying I'm happy!" But Addison ignored her. "You're happy. I'm happy for you. You're perfect for each other." She couldn't help but smile. She was happy. "Shut up." The redhead laughed at her infectious happiness, and took a sip of her coffee... before realizing it wasn't coffee. "God, how can he drink this crap!?"

It was Naomi's turn to laugh. "Pete's tea?" Addison nodded as she drank almost a whole bottle of water, trying to get rid of the aftertaste. "It's poisonous. I'm sure it is. Nothing that tastes like that can be good for you." Naomi couldn't stop laughing. She knew how much she hated tea. "So, you and Pete seem to be hanging out a lot lately." Addison shook her head. "Not today, Nai. Ask me again tomorrow, and I'll tell you anything you want." Naomi watched confused as her friend left the room and walked towards her office. She really didn't know what was going on with her.

Addison didn't know why she'd acted like that. She should be happy. She finally had a man who was willing to stay with her. Why couldn't she be normal, for once? Why couldn't she enjoy the feeling? Maybe she really was a glutton for punishment after all. The sound of the door closing startled her after a few minutes, and she couldn't really choose between smiling or frowning when she turned around to see Pete standing there. He looked nervous. She felt sick. She felt even worse when she noticed the lack of coffee in his hands.

"I've been thinking... It's been a month since that night." She knew. "And I think we've both changed a lot in this month." Was he breaking up with her? Was he ending their fake relationship? He took a deep breath and she felt like running away before he could say whatever it was that he wanted to say. He looked confident when he spoke again. "Look, I'm not trying to control you or anything, I'm not like that. But I'd like you to stop seeing Kevin." What now? She wasn't expecting that. "Because it's driving me completely insane to think about you dating him." She smiled as soon as she realized what was happening. "Pete..."

He didn't want to stop talking. He knew if he stopped he wouldn't be able to say everything he needed to say. "No, let me finish. Last night was amazing. And I feel stupid saying this, because, honestly? I'm too old to be like this over a kiss." He sounded mad, and she didn't know if he was mad at her or at himself. "The thing is, whatever it was that happened last night, I don't want to share it. I want to be the only one who gets to see you mess up in the kitchen, and the only one who gets to listen to your annoying rambles about being the best surgeon there ever was, and the only one who gets to kiss you good night." Her smile was wider now. "Pete, I..." He shook his head.

"I'm not sharing you. I can't. I won't. So, this is it. I'm not trying to say you have to say yes, because, really, it's your choice. I'm just saying, I can't share. I can walk away and be the bigger man, but I can't share you. So, will you stop seeing him?" He looked into her eyes, waiting for her answer. "Pete, I can't stop seeing Kevin. He's my friend. I don't want to stop seeing him. But..." He didn't want to hear anything else. "You don't have to explain. I wasn't expecting you to say yes, anyway." He walked towards the door, and she tried to stop him. "Pete, I'm not dating him. We're..." He interrupted again. "Friends. I know. I guess I was wrong about you. I didn't think you'd want to be with two men at a time. I'll see you later."

He knew he was overreacting, but he didn't care. He'd put himself out there. He'd admitted he was jealous. And she'd say no. She'd chosen Kevin. Well, not really, but still. She hadn't chosen Pete, and that was just as bad. He really thought she'd say yes. He thought they were in the same page. He walked into Cooper's office and slammed the door shut. "What the hell, Pete?" He didn't sit down. "She won't stop seeing him." He was well aware of the fact that he was going insane. And he didn't really care that much. "I told her I was jealous. I thought it'd work out." Cooper was confused. "Addison?" Pete nodded at him. "I asked her to stop seeing him, and she said no. She said they are friends and she won't stop seeing him." His friend looked at him, trying to figure him out. "Maybe they are friends." Pete's glare made him regret his words. "I am her friend, too. That's the point." Cooper was about to say something, but Pete saw something outside of the office and had walked away before he could speak.

"Kevin!" The logical part of his brain told him he was acting like a crazy person. He also knew nothing good would come out of this. But he knew, if there was a moment to be her gladiator, this was it. Kevin turned around to look at him, slightly startled at the loud tone of his voice. "Hey, Pete. What's up?" Pete ignored his friendly greeting. "I have a question for you. What are you doing with her?" Kevin looked confused. "I'm sorry?" It took a lot of self-control for Pete not to punch his pretty face. "What are you doing?" He didn't notice Addison stepping outside of her office. "I'm... being her friend." That was it.

"Okay, we all know you two are friends, you can stop repeating it. But is that it? Do you think you can make her happy? Are you willing to do everything in your power to make her happy? Are you willing to fight for her?" Kevin knew what was going on, he was Addison's friend after all. He smiled slightly as he answered. "No, I'm not." Pete was confused. He wasn't expecting that. "Well, I am. I'm fighting for her." Kevin's smile grew slightly wider. "I know. She's fighting for you, too. She told me that on our second date, when we decided to be just friends."

Pete didn't know what to say. "Oh." Kevin was genuinely happy for Addison. "We really are friends. I listen to her ramble about you, and she listens to me ramble about Susan." Susan? Really? He knew he'd seen something between him and Susan McCullough. "So you're not..." He shook his head. "Not at all." That's when he saw Addison standing behind Kevin. "Oh." Kevin excused himself and smiled as he walked into the elevator. He was happy for them.

"You know you've acted like a jerk, right?" He nodded. "That was stupid. And humiliating. And I feel like kicking your ass right now. What did you think you were doing, yelling at Kevin like that? And saying that stuff about two-timing you to me! Are you out of your mind!? Next time, let me finish talking before you act like a baby." He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to think about the possibility of having blown it. "I can't talk to you right now." She walked into her office again, and closed the door behind her.

Pete didn't know what to do. He knew he'd blown his chance. And then, he realized something, and ran towards his car. He was fixing this. He was fighting for her.

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As always, thank you **Carolina1986, Melanie, Effie, TwoShoes, raes, Ciaobella06, agentaddek, jb916, AddielovesMen and Karma22** for taking the time to review! You have no idea how much it means to see people enjoy this story :)

I don't know how I feel about this chapter, but I don't know exactly what I don't like. Let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Shonda and Co. own it all. I only own an overactive imagination and an unhealthy obsession with the Paddie.

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**9. Apologies**

Addison didn't have any patients to see before lunch, so she decided to go out and unwind. She was still mad at Pete, and she was glad she'd told him she didn't want to talk. She knew sometimes it's better to let things settle for a while. She knew herself, and she knew, with her temper, trying to talk to him right after he'd yelled at Kevin would only end with her saying things she'd later regret. But that wasn't the only good thing about giving herself some time to calm down. Another good thing was that with that calm came also the ability to think about what had happened. To really think about it.

As she walked down the street, Addison could feel her anger going away and started seeing the events of the day under a different light. Suddenly, Pete saying she was two-timing Kevin and him wasn't so important anymore. What was important was the fact that he'd told her how he felt. And that was pretty amazing. Addison was smiling now, and her smile only grew when she kept thinking about it. He'd acted like a baby, throwing a tantrum and then going insane on Kevin. But he'd also said he wanted to fight for her. And that was enough to make her smile grow even more.

She'd never been fought for before. Well, you could count Mark following her to Seattle as fighting, in a way, but it wasn't the same. As much as she loved her friend, she'd always wondered if everything that happened between them had been more about Derek than about them. She knew, in her case, sleeping with him had been a direct consequence of Derek's indifference, but she wondered if it'd been the same for Mark. If he'd slept with her to get back at Derek, or to prove himself that he could have the girl. Derek had the marriage, the houses, the professional respect and the memories of always getting better results in college. But Mark could get the girl.

She rolled her eyes at herself. Mark, Derek and Addison had been best friends for almost twenty years. They were each other's families, and they loved each other dearly. And yet, each one of them had hurt the others in some way. She missed her friends. Not Derek, her husband, or Mark, her dirty mistress. She missed Mark and Derek, her best friends. She almost regretted having left without a goodbye, and not giving them her number. Almost. Because she knew she needed some distance to get over everything that wasn't friendship. And now that she'd done it, and she could see them as the great friends they once were, she thought about giving them a call sometime. Or maybe even visiting. She'd promised Callie, after all.

Thoughts of her friends kept her entertained for a while, but they weren't enough to keep her mind away from Pete. Pete, who had slowly but surely become a very special person for her. Someone who could make her smile, and even laugh, no matter how bad she was feeling. Someone who was always there to listen to her, no matter how boring he found her rambles. Someone who wanted to fight for her. For them. Someone who could make her happy, or at least try to make her as happy as possible. Yes, Pete was definitely someone special.

She was still smiling when she walked into the station and asked for Officer Kevin Nelson. She didn't plan on visiting him when she left the clinic, but her subconscious apparently had taken over while she walked. "Addison, hey! Will this visit get me into trouble?" She ignored his cheeky grin. The baby in his arms had distracted her, and she was already cooing before he could make her listen. "Hey Jason! Come here, I'll save you from the big bad meanie." Kevin laughed as she took the baby from him. "You're the sweetest little boy I've ever seen, I'll have to introduce you to Batgirl."

"So, how come you're stuck with Uncle Kevin today?" Addison still hadn't looked away from the baby. "Susan needed a break, so I offered to watch him while she went shopping." Kevin was used to her talking to him in baby voice. It happened every single time little Jason came to visit. "That's so sweet of you, Kevin. She's lucky to have you." She smiled at him, but he didn't hold her attention for too long. As soon as Jason made a little sound, she was back to the cooing.

Kevin wondered why she'd never had kids. She obviously loved babies, and he'd never hear her say she didn't want to have some of her own. He'd tried to ask a few times, but she always changed the subject, and he knew by now there was no use on pushing it. If she didn't want to say something, she wouldn't say it. No matter how hard he tried to make that change. Not that he was upset about it. He appreciated having a friend who didn't ask for explanations about his past, and who didn't need to know every single thing about him to be there for him. It was refreshing, and he wouldn't change their relationship for the world.

Addison was changing Jason's diaper when someone knocked on the door. Kevin walked towards it and opened it, greeting the visitor with a friendly smile. "Pete, hey! How can I help you?" Pete shook his head. "I just came over to apologize. I was out of line earlier, and you didn't punch me. Which is what I deserved." Kevin chuckled at his smile. "So... yeah. I'm sorry." Kevin shook Pete's hand. "Apology accepted." Pete smiled at him. "I was on my way to the clinic, but I figured if I wanna make things work I'd better make sure none of her friends hate me first, right?" Both men laughed at that, and their chat was interrupted when Addison walked into the room, holding baby Jason. "We're back, Uncle Kevin! Addie changed my... Pete. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to apologize to Kevin for what happened earlier." Addison forced herself not to smile. She was still mad at him, after all. "Oh. Okay." Pete smiled when he saw the baby. "Is this Jason? He's huge!" He took him from Addison and gently bounced him in his arms. Addison smiled at the scene in front of her, but quickly snapped out of it. "I have to go, I have a patient. Have fun with Jason." She smirked at Kevin and walked towards Pete and the baby. "Bye kiddo, think about the Batgirl offer." She smiled at Jason before looking up at Pete. "See you at work." She walked out, and after a moment of confusion, Pete handed Kevin the baby and ran after her.

"Addison!" She stopped walking and turned around when she heard his voice. "I've told you I don't want to talk, Pete!" She was still mad, and seeing him again before all the anger was gone had only made her madder. "Don't say that. Yell at me if you want, but don't say you can't talk to me." His words took her by surprise. She really wasn't expecting that. "I was a jerk, and a baby, and I was stupid. But please don't downgrade me to acquaintance again. I don't want to give up on this yet." He motioned at the space between them, as if he was trying to find the words to define whatever it was that was happening between them. "This is when you say something, you know."

"I'm not downgrading you. I don't want to. And even if I did, I wouldn't be able to. Because you're Pete. And I may yell at you, and you may act like a baby, and I may be completely unreasonable, and we may fight, but that doesn't change the fact that you're Pete, and if you think I'm giving up on us because of a fight, you can think again." He looked slightly confused. As if he didn't really understand what she was saying. "So we had a fight. And hopefully, it'll be the first of many fights. Because, as long as we fight, and as long as we yell, it means there's still something to fight for. And it means we still care enough to yell."

"So we're good?" He still didn't really believe everything was fixed. Actually, he couldn't believe there was nothing to fix. "We're good." She smiled at him. Apparently, she wasn't the only one having this kind of relationship for the first time. "And you're not mad at me?" She struggled to frown, but she managed to look at least slightly angry. "I am mad at you." He was now much more relaxed. He could take mad Addison, as long as he knew he could have all the other Addison moods as well. "I'll fight for your forgiveness." She had to smile at his cocky smirk. She'd missed that cocky smirk. "Good luck with that." He had to make a physical effort not to grab her when she shoot him a flirty look. This was going to be fun.

Addison turned down his offer to drive her to the clinic, not before accepting the cup of coffee that he'd gotten her right after their fight. Apparently, he thought the coffee would fix it all, and he'd ran to the coffee shop as soon as she'd walked into her office. She had to admit it was sweet of him to think about her caffeine-deprived status. Now that she'd gotten used to her daily cup of coffee, courtesy of Dr. Wilder, she tried to wait for it and make it her first coffee of the day. Which basically meant she depended on him to give her a caffeinated start every morning. And she loved how he took that responsibility as seriously as she did.

Addison's afternoon had been far from relaxed. Her last patient had had complications and she'd ended up at the hospital, performing an emergency c-section. Both the mother and the baby were safe now, but it had been a long and complicated surgery, the kind of surgery that was emotionally and physically draining. Addison didn't even stop by the clinic when she was done. She just wanted to get home and get into bed, and sleep like a log for at least ten hours.

She'd already changed to get into bed when the doorbell rang. Addison couldn't suppress a groan as she ran downstairs to answer it, and a small smile automatically appeared on her face as she saw her visitor. "Pete." He smirked at the sight in front of him. "Star Wars? Really?" She blushed slightly when she realized she was wearing her over-sized Star Wars t-shirt, the one she only wore to sleep. "Shut up." His smirk didn't leave his face as he spoke again. "I like it. It's intriguingly sexy. Dorky, but sexy. It fits you." She'd inadvertently leaned slightly closer to him as he spoke, and she had to make a serious effort to keep things under control. "I'm officially still mad at you, Pete, so stop hitting on me."

He smiled at her. He loved this far-from-perfect Addison. Not that he didn't love high-heeled, perfect-haired Addison. He was only human, after all. But this Addison, the one who wore ratty Star Wars t-shirts and her hair in a messy ponytail, was making him feel things he hadn't felt in a long time. Things like wanting to sit through the whole Star Wars saga with her, and let her ramble about dorky things while eating popcorn. Nothing extraordinary. Just be with her. Have her around. Let her be a part of his everyday life. He shook his head as he imagined Sam and Cooper's comments if they knew what he was thinking.

"I'm not hitting on you. We both know we're interested. No need for hitting on anyone." He was serious. He was ready to take the next step, no more games. "I've been working on fighting for your forgiveness." He handed her a box, and he beamed with pride when he saw her smile after opening it. "I don't know many things about you, so it wasn't easy to think of something you love. I mean, I know many things about your life, but not about you. I only had green thing, shoes, coffee and babies." She chuckled slightly. She knew it was true, she didn't talk much about herself. "I've already used coffee, and it's a bit too soon to give you a baby, so I used the two other things. I asked Dell for the recipe and made you some green thing. So you can drink it while you ponder how to chastise me for my faults." She cocked her eyebrow at him, but her bright smile betrayed her true feelings. "And that's, according to the Internet, the best shoe catalog in the world. So you can either look at it or roll it up and hit me over the head with it. Your call."

She didn't really know what to say. He was cheesy and charming at the same time. Not many men could pull off that kind of silly stunt, but he was one of the few that definitely could. "Okay, I forgive you." She faked a tired tone, as if she was doing him a big favor. As if she wasn't this close to doing a happy naked dance. "Thank you." She wanted to go to bed. She really did. But she didn't want to say goodbye yet. "In the spirit of forgiveness, do you want to watch a game?" He smiled broadly at her. He'd have said yes to anything to stay for a while. "I can make an effort, in the spirit of forgiveness." She laughed as he winked at him. "Come on." She took his hand and lead him inside, and the moment he closed the door behind them, they both knew everything would be different from that moment on.

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Thank you, **jb916, raes, hopelessromantic28, AddielovesMen, Effi, Chloe, kenzzx2, agentaddek and melanie** for your always nice reviews! I really appreciate you guys taking the time to let me know what you think, and you're definitely the reason why I try to do my best with every chapter :) It's always awesome to know I'm not writing for myself and there are some other Paddison lovers out there :D

I may not be able to update daily from now on, but I'll try to make it every other day at least. I'm back to work, and I don't have much time to devote to writing, but I can guarantee you I spend every waking moment thinking about the Paddie ;)

Please read and review, and tell me what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I'd like a bit of Pete, though, if at all possible.

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**10. The Biggest Step**

Pete sat on the couch as soon as she let go of his hand, and she walked towards the TV to put on one of the DVDs she'd borrowed from him. Apparently, they were must-see games, and he wanted her to watch them all. She sat on the couch and leaned against him without giving it a second thought, because it just felt right. Which was exactly the reason why he wrapped his arm around her shoulder with absolutely no hesitation. There was no reason to pretend they were just friends watching a game. They both knew what was going on, and even though they couldn't really choose a word to define it, they were sure whatever it was included this kind of closeness. Because it didn't make sense to feel as close as they were in the emotional sense of the word, and still pretend they didn't need to be physically close as well.

It was funny, she thought, how easy this had been. How he'd gone from random kiss, to co-worker, to almost-date, to acquaintance, to friend, to _this_. Whatever this was. Just Pete. She didn't need to put a label on what he was to her. He was Pete, and that was enough. And it still amazed her how right it felt. As if it was just normal to be snuggled up against him, with his arm around her, watching a baseball game. As if this happened every night. As if they'd been doing it for years, and would be doing it for years to come. She felt completely safe and calm, and she couldn't help but smile when he shifted a bit on the couch, inadvertently pulling her closer to him as he wrapped his arm slightly tighter around her shoulders.

Pete wondered if the way his arm seemed to have been made to fit perfectly around her shoulders was some kind of sign. It amazed him, really. He was more comfortable right now, with his arm around her, than he was when he had the whole couch to himself. So, even though he was against clichés, he had to admit they fit. His arm fit around her shoulders, which was kind of great, because he planned on placing it there as often as possible from then on. Was he supposed to be feeling like this? He wasn't sure it was normal to be this happy about wrapping his arm around a woman's shoulder. But then again, this was not just a woman. It was Addison. And, to be honest, nothing had been normal since the moment he met her.

"Go out with me tomorrow night." She was slightly startled by his voice. "What?" He smiled at her surprised expression. She seemed to be one of those people who jumped every time the phone rang. "I want to take you out tomorrow night. On a date." She was still looking at the TV, but a smile appeared on her face as soon as she heard him. "A real date?" He nodded as his thumb absentmindedly rubbed her arm. "A real date. With the wine, and the dinner, and I'll even be a gentleman for you." She let out a small chuckle at that. "So you're gonna show up this time?" He nodded again. He knew she was kidding, but he still felt bad about that night. "I'm not scared of us anymore."

They kept watching the game in a comfortable silence. They both knew there was nothing else to say, and they were comfortable enough around each other that they didn't need to fill every moment of silence with meaningless talking. He thought, at that moment, there was nowhere else he'd rather be. Well, he could think of a few things he'd love to do with her, and to her, and none of them involved watching a baseball game... but he could wait. He could control his insticts. As hard as she was making it, with her messy hair, and her arm resting across his stomach, and her breathing on his neck, he could wait. He told himself waiting was a good thing. He'd been more patient than he ever thought he could be during the last month, and he had his reward now. And even though he knew it could happen right then and there if they wanted, he knew it wasn't the perfect moment. And he wanted to give her her fireworks.

As much as he tried to concentrate on the game in front of him, his mind kept drifting away from it. She thought about that time, when he'd tried to explain what made her different from Anna. She barely knew her then, and yet he knew she wasn't the same. Yes, she was also gorgeous, classy and sexy. But she wasn't like Anna. If someone asked him now, he could give them hundreds of reasons why they were different. How Addison liked her coffee with less sugar, but more cream than Anna. How she bit her nails, and Anna had tried to make him stop biting his. How she could send shivers down his spine with just a look, and how most times those shivers had little to do with lust.

It had been almost four months since he'd answered that question for the first time. He still remembered his answer: Addison doesn't need... she doesn't need. And it was true. She didn't need him. She was strong, she was intelligent, she was brilliant and successful. She was confident and beautiful, and she definitely didn't need him. Or anyone, for that matter. And that made it even better. Because she wasn't letting him be a part of her life because he needed him. And she wasn't letting him hold her, like he was doing at that very moment, because she needed to be held. She did it because she wanted to. And that made him feel like he'd earned it. Like he'd worked for it. It made him feel like he deserved her.

He came back to reality just in time to see the game had finished. "Good game, wasn't it?" his voice was barely above a whisper, and he looked down at her when he didn't hear a reply. "Addison?" Pete smiled when he saw she'd fallen asleep, and he slowly and carefully stood up, letting her lay comfortably on the couch. He gently covered her legs with a blanket and made himself leave after a moment, even though he would have killed for a reason to stay.

Addison woke up the next day with a smile on her face. She remembered Pete's presents. And Pete's arms around her. She didn't remember Pete leaving, though. After going out to the deck to check if he was there, she finally noticed a small piece of paper on the coffee table. She recognized Pete's handwriting and smiled as she read the note.

"Morning, Montgomery!

I figured you won't want everyone to know about our super secret date, so we'd better not talk about it at work. Be ready at 8. Don't wear your dorky t-shirt and I won't wear mine.

Wilder.

P.S: I won't forget about your coffee this time."

She was ridiculously excited about the date. She'd been on many dates before. Hell, she'd been married already! And still, she was excited and nervous as if it was her first date. Well, it was _their_ first date, after all. She had a date with Pete. And she wanted it to be the first of many dates. So, it was only normal to be nervous, wasn't it? It was a big step. The first date. The final step to cross the line between friends and more-than-friends. Nothing would be the same anymore. And she had a feeling the change would be for the better.

She couldn't stop smiling on her way to the practice. She walked towards the kitchen with a smile on her face and a cup of tea in her hand, hoping he'd be alone in there so they could talk. Unfortunately, everyone was there when she walked inside. Violet, looking bemused at something Cooper had said, Sam and Naomi, trying to act as if nothing was going on between them, and Pete, with his unbelievably sexy smirk already in place, waiting for her. She walked towards her usual spot, in front of him, and handed him the cup. "Morning, Wilder." She gave her her coffee and touched his cup to hers. "Montgomery." She walked out after winking at him, making her blush slightly. Luckily for her, everyone was too busy with their own love lives to care about hers.

The day was painfully slow. And long. Addison still had one patient left, and she was already going insane. She needed to get ready for the date, and she didn't just mean physically. She needed to make herself get a grip and behave like the strong, adult woman she was. And stop smiling like an idiot every time she thought about him. Oh, and getting rid of the not-so-innocent thoughts she was having would be good, too. Because she didn't want to jump him before the dinner. And her mind was taking her dangerously close to the edge of self-control.

Pete wasn't doing much better. After calling the restaurant three times to make the reservations, confirm the reservations, and make sure the reservations were still made, he found himself unable to concentrate on anything that wasn't Addison or his date with Addison. Normally, he'd talk to Sam and Cooper. He'd tell them he was nervous about his date, and they'd tell him it's just another date, don't worry, you'll be fine. Except this time, he didn't want to tell them. And he knew it wasn't just another date. But, he had to admit, he was pretty sure he'd be fine. He was almost sure it'd work out. Because it just had to.

Addison was finally done with her last patient, and she decided to stop by Pete's office before going home. He smirked when he saw her, and she returned the favor with a warm smile. "I'm going home. See you at 8, right?" Pete chuckled and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Addison. I'm going to be there." Her smile broadened at his words. "Good." He reluctantly let go of her, and shoot her his famous trademark smirk. "Good." She smiled at him before she left, and both doctors went back to thinking about their date, feeling stupid and excited at the same time.

After spending almost two hours trying (unsuccessfully) to find the perfect dress, Addison decided she needed help. And she knew there was only one person she could talk. One person who wouldn't laugh at her. One person who knew enough about them to be able to calm her down without asking for explanations. "Hello?" Addison let out a sigh of relief when she heard her voice. "Violet! I'm so glad you're home. I have a date tonight." Violet didn't have to ask. "You'll be fine, Addison. You're going to work. You have to work. If you don't work, there's no hope for the rest of us." Addison chuckled at her words. "Thank you, Violet." She heard a sigh. "No problem. Go be happy. Find love. Leave the bitternes to me."

After a few more minutes in which Addison repeated how smart, funny and pretty Violet was, she realized she only had one hour left to get ready and ran into the shower, instantly deciding the little black dress was the way to go. Sexy, but not too sexy. Classy, glamourous and elegant without being over the top. She'd look good no matter where he took her. She quickly dried her hair and got dressed, and then proceeded to put on her makeup, constantly checking the time to make sure she had time.

The doorbell rang five minutes before 8 o'clock, and she couldn't help but smile as she walked downstairs and opened the door. Pete looked at her with a smile on his lips, taking her in. She looked gorgeous. And she looked gorgeous for him, which made it even better. He tried to say something, but he couldn't really find the words. And she didn't look too upset about it. She was too busy looking at him. He cleaned up nicely. That was all she was letting herself think. Because she refused to acknowledge the thoughts about taking off his tie, and ripping his shirt open, and... okay, back to the innocent thoughts. He cleaned up nicely.

Pete was the first to come back to reality. "Ready to go?" She smiled when he offered her his arm. "You're really being a gentleman, aren't you?" He chuckled and then smirked at her, the kind of smirk that made her heart skip a beat and made it very hard to focus on innocent things. "I'm being a gentleman. Tonight." The way he'd said that last word made her smile grow slightly, but it was suddenly replaced by an inviting smirk of her own. "I was hoping you'd say no." He looked at her in a way that let her know he wasn't letting her win the flirting game that night. This was going to be fun.

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Thank you so very much **AddielovesMen, raes, hopelessromantic28, jb916 and agentaddek** for your reviews! I love reading your reviews, you guys really make my day! I wasn't going to update today, but between all the Paddie in my head and your nice words I couldn't resist :D

Please read and review! Let me know if you like it or not, and tell me why so I can improve :) Oh, and also, I'm trying to decide where to end this fic. I'm thinking either as soon as they're "officially" together or maybe a little later, like the next day or so. Let me know what you think! And also, if you think another sequel would be far too much or not. Because I'm an addict and I apparently never think it's enough with the Paddie :P


	11. Chapter 11

**11. Good Night**

Addison smiled when Pete wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer as they walked. She hadn't been too thrilled to hear him say they were walking to the restaurant, she was wearing high heels and walking didn't sound like a good plan, but now she had to admit it had been a good idea. This wasn't as easy as she thought it'd be, though. It wasn't a normal first date. They knew each other, they were friends, so they couldn't make small talk asking about their jobs, or other little things. She didn't know what to say to break the ice, and that was worrying her. Wasn't this supposed to be easy?

She tried to think of things they talked about when they were alone, but she realized flirting was pretty much all they did in those situations, and she needed some actual conversation right now. "So..." She looked at him when he spoke, and she chuckled when she realized he was also trying to come up with something to talk about. "Should we be worried about this not being easier?" He smiled down at her, relieved to see he wasn't the only one having trouble. "Well, it's not a normal situation. It's like starting on the 20th date." She nodded at his words. "What do people talk about on their 20th date?" He took a moment to think before answering her question. "How was your day?"

It took her a moment to make sure he was serious, and then she started talking about her patients, what she'd had for lunch, and everything else that had happened on her uneventful day. "...and Mr. and Mrs. Conrad asked for me, so I'm stopping by tomorrow to see how the baby's doing. I hope Charlotte will cooperate." Pete smirked at her. "I'm only worried about her convincing you to stay at St. Ambrose and go back to your hotshot surgeon days." Addison laughed as she spoke again. "Don't worry, you quacks have successfully brainwashed me into thinking one patient a day is a good idea." It was his turn to laugh. "You're one of us, Montgomery." She smiled warmly at him. "I really am."

It hadn't been easy for her to get used to this new way of practicing medicine, but she really felt part of the group now. She still wasn't completely comfortable with some things, like not having her own staff, or having to take the patient to St. Ambrose if she needed an OR, but she was getting there. And she was definitely a part of the group when it came to the personal area. Sam and Naomi were still her best friends, and the three of them were as close as they'd ever been. Cooper was someone you just couldn't help but love, and you could always count on him if you needed to have some fun. And Violet was slowly becoming a good friend of hers, even though they still were testing the waters and hadn't opened up to each other yet. And then there was Pete. Yes, she definitely was part of the group.

Addison came back to earth when they stopped in front of a small restaurant. He placed his hand on the small of his back as they walked inside, and she smiled as she saw the inside of the room. It was a traditional Italian restaurant, and that was obvious just by looking around. It was hard to believe a place like this could be across the street from the busy Santa Monica Boulevard. They were lead to one of the tables on the deck, overlooking the beach, and she thought she'd underestimated Pete's taste when she assumed he'd take her to whatever restaurant was the hottest in town that week. She really was pleasantly surprised.

She looked up from the menu and smiled at Pete, who looked slightly more relaxed than before. "I love this place. I can't believe I'd never heard about it before, it's just amazing." Pete beamed at her words. He was worried about her thinking it wasn't good enough. "Well, I'd love to say it's very exclusive and I have connections, but both things would be lies." She chuckled at his words. "I'm glad you didn't try to woo me with an exclusive restaurant." He smirked at her and leaned closer to reply. "I don't need to woo you, Montgomery, you're already on a date with me." She laughed at his cockiness and waited for the kiss that she just knew was coming, but the waiter interrupted them and she went back to looking at the menu, trying to hide her disappointment.

"I've never been good at choosing what to eat. I like everything." He smiled when he saw her frustrated look. "Do you trust me with the choosing?" She chuckled and cocked her eyebrow at him. "Should I trust you with the choosing?" He shoot her a cocky smirk. "I'm the best at choosing. We'll have the ravioli di brasato su salsa di porcini and the scaloppine al prosciutto e parmigiano." She looked at him with an incredulous look on her face. "Since when do you speak Italian?" His smirk widened at her question. "I'm good at many things, Montgomery." The waiter asked what they wanted to drink, and Pete's smirk slowly fell from his face, and Addison decided to take the choosing in her own hands. "We'll have a bottle of Dolcetto di Dogliani, please." It was his turn to look incredulous. "Since when do _you_ speak Italian?" She smirked at him. "I don't. I do speak Wine, though."

"Who taught you how to speak Wine?" He was looking playfully at her, with a glint of admiration in his eyes. He had to admit Addison fascinated him. "My grandfather." He watched her face for a hint of her not wanting to talk about this. She never talked about her family, and he didn't really know if it was a touchy subject or it just had never come up. "My grandfather taught me how to fish. It's really not as useful as knowing how to choose a wine." She chuckled at his words, relieved that he wasn't pushing the family subject. "Say that again if we ever get lost in a deserted island." He nodded in agreement. "Very good point. I should teach you how to fish sometime, and you can teach me all about the wine." She shook her head as she replied. "I don't play well with the Great Outdoors."

Pete was still laughing when the waiter brought them their food. "So you don't like nature?" She took a sip of her wine before answering. "I love nature, I just don't mingle with it. I don't mind nature in small quantities and indoors, I have a plant in my office." He laughed again. She was such a New Yorker. "We're going camping." Addison laughed and shook her head. "Ohh, I don't think so." He smirked at her. "Come camping with me, and I'll go shopping with you." She shook her head again. "Not good enough." His smirk didn't leave his face as he spoke again. "We're going camping. Maybe not next week, or next month, or next year. But someday, Montgomery, I'm taking you camping." His cocky smirk never failed to make her laugh.

After they ordered their desserts, Pete broke the silence again. "Tell me something I don't know about you." She smiled at him. "There are many things you don't know about me." He nodded in agreement. "I know. Tell me something about your family, or about your life in Connecticut. Dates are supposed to be about getting to know each other." She chuckled and sat back on her chair, looking at him. "Show me yours and I'll show you mine." He smiled at her as he spoke. "I have an older sister, Sally. I was born and raised in Pasadena, and my parents still live there. I have five nieces and a sixth on the way, although Sal and her husband are hoping for a boy this time. Your turn."

She shifted uncomfortably on her chair. She didn't like talking about her family. "I'm an only child. I was born and raised in Connecticut, and I obviously don't have any nieces or nephews, except for Derek's sisters' kids. Which I guess aren't my nieces and nephews anymore." He instantly regretted having brought up the family topic. "I'm sorry." She shook her head. "It's okay. I just don't like talking about my family." He nodded slightly and smiled when she forced a smile on her face. The mood was ruined, and they hadn't even finished their dessert yet.

They were still silent when they walked out of the restaurant and started walking back to Addison's house. It was one of the first uncomfortable silences they'd shared, and both of them wanted to find a way to fix it. "Pete?" He looked at her and waited for her to talk, but he noticed she was pointing to her feet, and smiled as he answered her silent question. "Jimmy Choo." She smiled back at him. "Your favorite." He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her as they walked, happy to see she was back to her normal self. "It's just so much fun to say."

They kept talking about meaningless things as they walked towards her house, but they fell silent again when they reached her front door. "I had an amazing time." He nodded and smiled as he replied. "So did I. We should make it a regular thing." She chuckled at his answer, leaning slightly closer to him. "Sounds good to me." She waited patiently for his kiss, but it never came. "Good night." She stared in disbelief as he walked down the steps. "Where are you going?" He shrugged before answering. "Home."

She shoot him an evil glare and spoke in her best scary voice. "Come back here and kiss me right now." He turned around and smirked at her. "You begging for a kiss pretty much means I win, right?" She couldn't help but laugh at his cocky smirk. "Good night, Pete." She was already opening the door when he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. He took a second to look at her, knowing this was the moment when everything changed. It was time to give her her fireworks. He wasn't expecting her to take advantage of that and kiss him instead.

She kissed him slowly, almost painfully so. He resisted the urge to grab her and push her up against the door, and decided to let her take the lead. She was taking her time, kissing him carefully, and she subconsciously moved her hands to the front of his shirt, pulling him closer, as if she was afraid he'd run away. She pulled her lips slightly away from him when she ran out of air, and smiled at his face, his eyes still closed and his mouth slightly open, as if he hadn't noticed she wasn't kissing him anymore. "Pete?" He opened his eyes and looked into hers, his voice barely audible. "Fireworks."

She nodded and kissed him again, but this time he didn't let her get away with it. He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her in a way that let her know all the games, and the pretending, and the self-control were gone for good. She was pressed up against the door, fiddling with her keys and trying to unlock it. He pulled away when he heard the sound of the door opening, gasping for air, and she shoot him a flirty smile. "Wanna come in for a cup of coffee?" He chuckled and pulled her inside with him, closing the door behind them. "Coffee sounds perfect." And, as she started to undo his tie, she thought she'd never been so happy to pass on a cup of coffee.

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Thank you **agentaddek, hopelessromantic28, Effi, melanie, ciaobella06, raes, AddielovesMen, CaliWriter, Carolina 1986 and jb916** for taking the time to review! I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the last one :)

Another fluffy chapter. I hope you guys like it, somehow it always sounds better in my head than it does when I write it down. Anyway, let me know what you think:)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Shonda owns all.

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**12. The Morning After**

Pete smiled to himself as she rolled over once again, her already messy hair sticking up in every direction and almost completely covering her face. He reached over to move it away from her face, but she stirred as soon as he touched her, and he had to exercise all his self-control not to burst out laughing. She'd woken him up three times by kicking, punching and slapping him in her sleep, and yet the smallest movement coming from someone that wasn't herself was enough to wake her up. He was enjoying watching her sleep. It wasn't just that he liked watching her for the obvious reasons, but also that she was quite entertaining, with her constant moving and rolling over.

He hadn't gotten any sleep that night. Not that he was complaining. Well, he could complain about her violent sleeping habits, but he had to admit everything she'd done to keep him up before she fell asleep had been worth all the kicking, and the punching, and the slapping. Actually, he'd happily sign up for months of bruises and sleepless nights if that meant he wouldn't have to leave this bed. Ever. Or this house. Because, to be honest, they hadn't made it to the bed the first time. His smile widened as he thought of the way she'd laughed when she'd knocked his head against the front door after a particularly passionate kiss, and the way she'd whispered she was sorry between kisses while her fingertips rubbed the sore spot on his head, helping him forget about the headache but making him ache for more of her instead.

The room was getting lighter by the second, and he glanced at the clock on her bedside table, frowning when he realized they'd have to get up soon if they wanted to make it to work in time. But his frown was replaced by a smile as soon as he looked at her face and saw she was waking up. He saw her frown at the light, and then carelessly push her hair off her face, taking a moment to fully wake up before she turned her head and looked at him. "Morning, Montgomery." A lazy smile appeared on her face as she remembered the events of the night before. "Good morning." He smirked when she rolled on her side, the sheet sliding slightly off her hips. "You know, for a double board certified neonatal surgeon like you, your behavior last night was highly unprofessional."

Addison would have answered with a sarcastic remark of her own, but his lips were on hers before she could think of a suitable reply. And even though he was kissing her softly, gently and almost playfully, this kiss was making her think of the not so soft, gentle or playful ones he'd given her hours earlier. Like the one that had made her give up on unbuttoning his shirt, and had been the reason why he wasn't going to be able to wear that shirt again before taking it to a good tailor. Or the one that had ended with both of them bursting into a fit of giggles, because apparently he didn't have much practice when it came to unzipping little black dresses with his eyes closed.

He smiled with his lips still on hers, thinking he wanted to wake up with her every morning for a very long time. Hopefully forever, but it was too soon to say that, and even he was aware of that. "Well, I'm not the one who bit a co-worker." He laughed at her cheeky grin and looked at the small red mark on her neck, lightly caressing it with his fingertips before placing a small kiss on the marked spot. "It was completely unintentional." And it was true, really. She shouldn't have done what she did while he was busy exploring her neck with his lips, and his tongue, and his teeth. He wasn't expecting her to completely ignore his efforts to take things slow and slide her hand down his stomach and under the waistband of his pants. And, honestly, he'd have apologized after he bit her, but she'd said his name in a way that made him forget about taking anything slowly, and next thing he knew the little black dress was flying across the room to join his discarded shirt.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this happy. She knew she'd been this happy before, but it had been a long time ago, and right now, it felt as if it was the first time. Except it wasn't, really. Because Pete was her friend, and they knew each other. Which, she assumed, was exactly why last night had been one of the best of her life. It had been perfect, in a very unperfect way. It had been a mixture of fun and passion, of heat and laughter. Like the moment when she felt like she was going to lose her mind, his body pressing her against the door in a way that was walking that deliciously fine line between pain and pleasure, and they suddenly found themselves laughing on the floor after he underestimated the effect of a particularly enthusiastic movement on their balance.

But she couldn't keep her mind focused for a long time, because he had now moved his lips off hers only to leave a trail of soft kisses down her neck and, as he now knew, she wasn't someone who could think straight when her neck was being kissed the way he was kissing it now. He could actually remember the exact moment when he found out. Because, let's face it, hearing her say his name in what could only be described as a half moan-half sigh sound wasn't something that was easily forgettable. Just as he was sure he would never forget the moment when he felt her nails on his shoulder blades and he saw her bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. Because he didn't remember the last time he'd heard or seen something that was even half as perfect as that.

He'd already pinned her down on the mattress when her alarm clock brought them back to reality. She turned it off and tried to get up, but his body was keeping her pressed onto the mattress, and she couldn't help but smile at his playful smirk. "Let's skip work today." She laughed and gently pushed him off her, wrapping the sheet around her body. "This is why people go on dates on the weekends. So they can spend the morning after in bed with each other." He nodded in agreement and stood up, looking around for his clothes before he remembered they were all somewhere on her living room floor. "I need clean clothes." He quickly grabbed her and kissed her before she could get in the bathroom. "See you at work, Montgomery." She smiled at him before turning around and hopping into the shower. "See you."

Addison was shifting uncomfortably on her seat as she drove to the clinic. They hadn't talked about telling or not telling their co-workers about them. They hadn't even talked about them, actually. But that wasn't really neccessary, because she was pretty sure there was a _them_, and that was enough. She wondered if everyone would notice what was going on in her mind. If something had changed last night and now everyone would know what had happened. She wondered if everyone could tell, just by looking at her, that she wasn't smiling just because she was happy, but also because what he'd done the night before had been enough to make her smile for weeks. His touch _did_ heal, after all.

She had to control herself when she walked into the kitchen and she saw him surrounded by their friends. She could have sworn his smirk was different than his usual flirty grin, but she tried not to think about it. Because, if she did, she'd end up thinking about the way he'd smiled at her while they walked towards her bedroom. Or the way he'd smirked when she'd stopped him before they got there, because she couldn't wait for another earth-shattering kiss. Or the way his smile had faded as they fell on the mattress, and she knew the lack of playful smiles and the sudden feeling of his hands' careful touch on her skin could only mean this time wouldn't be about the giggles and the passion, but about what they both felt and weren't ready to voice yet.

Pete handed her her coffee trying to look as normal as possible, but her slightly cocked eyebrow let him know he was failing miserably. After clearing his throat and thanking her for his tea, he chose to leave for his office before he did something he would later regret. Like kissing her in front of everyone. Or brushing that small strand of hair away from her face. Or whispering something in her ear. Anything, really. Maybe something about the way he was now officially unable to function without her. It was moments like this when he really understood why he'd tried to talk himself into ignoring the sexy redhead that had just moved to LA. Because, after last night, he was pretty sure his head would explode before the day was over if he didn't get at least a minute alone with her.

She walked into his office soon after he left the kitchen, and he was thankful for her keeping her distance, because he didn't trust his own self-control at the moment. "Nai just told me they thought we were doing it." He laughed at the amused expression on her face. "Doing it? That makes me feel so dirty." She laughed with him, and took a sip of her coffee before speaking again. "But apparently now they think it's Kevin and I doing it, because I'm smiling and you're being squirmy, which can only mean you're jealous of him." He flashed her his trademark cocky smirk as he leaned slightly closer to her. "Well, you are smiling an awful lot today. Someone had a good time last night." She matched his smirk with one of her own. "I had an amazing time last night. Sadly, the man who made it happen is being cocky, so he won't get a repeat." He laughed as she walked towards the door. "Very funny, Montgomery. You're a very funny woman."

He wasn't happy to hear she'd already left for St. Ambrose when he went looking for her at lunch time. He'd hoped for a quick private lunch at the small diner near the clinic, but apparently he'd have to settle for the usual sandwich with Sam and Cooper. Except Cooper was also at St. Ambrose for some unthinkable reason, and Sam was in Naomi's office, talking to her. So he walked into Violet's office and offered her a friendly lunch get-together, not only because he hated eating alone, but also because Violet seemed to be having a hard time lately, and Cooper wasn't there, so he thought he'd try and be a good friend for her.

As soon as they'd taken their seats, Violet started questioning him. "How was the date?" He looked surprised at her knowing there had been a date, but he shook his head before answering. "This is not about me. What's wrong, Vi? You're worrying me." She took a moment before speaking again. "You already know what's wrong. Your friend and his habit of turning down perfectly fine women." He looked into her eyes as he replied. "Violet, you have to talk to him. Let him know whatever it is that's bothering you. He's your best friend, you can't just throw that away because it didn't work out with the benefits." She sighed before shooting him a teasing smirk. "Since when are you smart?" Pete laughed as he answered her question. "Side effects of spending time with Montgomery."

Addison hadn't come back yet when everyone was getting ready to go home. The baby needed surgery, and she was probably in the middle of the operation right now. He'd hoped to see her today, and he meant "see" in the least innocent way, but apparently that'd have to wait till another time. Knowing he wouldn't get to see her that night didn't keep him from thinking about the night before, though. Because, as much as he'd fantasized about their first night together, he'd been pleasantly surprised to find out reality was even better than his fantasies. That messy hair, sweaty skin and ragged breaths were even sexier than perfect hair, flawless makeup and sultry voices. And he didn't want to stop replaying those moments in his mind, because they were too good to risk forgetting.

He was walking into his house when his phone rang, and he smiled at the sight of her name flashing on the screen. "Hello?" He could feel her smile on the other side of the line. "Hey, Pete. I just finished at St. Ambrose and I'm on my way home, so I was wondering..." His smile grew wider at her words. "Pizza?" She chuckled and nodded, forgetting he couldn't see her. "I'll get the wine." He laughed and walked back to his car, putting her on the speaker as he turned it on. "You can't mix pizza and wine, Montgomery. Go get us some beer." She smiled at the phone in front of her. "Beer it is. And ask them to put..." he didn't let her finish. "Pepperoni and extra cheese. I know, Addie." She smiled at the sound of him using her nickname. "See you soon." He reluctantly hung up after repeating her words, and headed for his favorite pizza place.

Addison knew this wasn't just about beer and pizza. She wanted to talk to him about them, about telling or not telling everyone else, and about where they were headed. But she didn't want to freak him out. She knew he wasn't as commitment-phobic as he wanted people to think, but she wasn't sure how far from that image he really was. So she couldn't say she wasn't nervous as she walked into her house. And she certainly wasn't relaxed while she waited for a knock on the door. But deep down, she knew she had nothing to worry about. She knew they'd get there, sooner or later.

And if she hadn't been sure before, the way he kissed her when she opened the door would have been enough to convince her.

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Thank you so much **Ciaobella06, raes, hopelessromantic28, jb916, Effi, saci, Carolina1986 and AddielovesMen** for taking the time to review! I love reading what you think of this fic, and your nice words never fail to make me smile :)

Okay, so I was going to write the actual night, but I chickened out :P I just didn't think I could make them justice, because honestly, the hotness that should be the first Paddie night is too much for me to type coherently. So I just put in little bits and pieces, which I hope made sense and weren't too out of character. Because lately I'm not sure what's canon and what's not anymore, my imaginary Pete is taking over my brain :P

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you thought, if you have any suggestions for it to be better, or just tell me to shut up with the Paddie fluff already ;) Oh, and I'm thinking there's around three more chapters left before this is finished. But then I'm writing another sequel because a) I'm addicted, and b) the rainy hellhole is lonely without Addie :P


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. And I don't see that changing anytime soon.

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**13. Let's act like adults.**

Addison wanted to talk. Really, she did. But he was making it very hard to concentrate. The man was a good kisser. A very, very good kisser. Plus, she couldn't help but marvel at the coordination it took to kiss her like that while holding a box with a pizza inside. So, really, with all the effort he was putting into it, it would be just plain rude to interrupt him. And that had nothing to do with the kiss itself, or with the need for it to go on forever, or with the way he'd just softly caught her lower lip between his teeth and... yeah, okay, so maybe it had something to do with that. But mostly, the reason for Addison not stopping it was that she didn't want to be inconsiderate. That was all.

It took them a moment to catch their breaths when they finally pulled away from each other, Addison quickly glancing at the window to make sure the drapes were closed. Sam seeing her naked had been humiliating, but him seeing her with Pete would be ten times worse. "We should do this more often. A whole day without it is just unacceptable." She smiled at the obviously fake indignant expression on his face. "We need to talk." He nodded as he placed the pizza on the counter top and walked back to where she was. "We're not so good at the talking. We're awesome at the kissing, though. I think we should just focus on the kissing for now."

It took a lot of willpower to step away, and she had to admit she felt proud of herself. And quite frustrated, as well, but that's not the point. "Come on, Pete. We need to talk." After an overly dramatic sigh, he sat on the couch next to her and waited for her to start. "So... this. Us. What is this?" It was hard not to kiss her when she was doing those cute little hand gestures with a frustrated pout on her face. "This is Pete and Addison. Or Addison and Pete. You can choose, really." He could tell she was debating between smiling or frowning. "So this is us. There's an _us_." He nodded at her words. "There's an us." That was apparently the right answer, because a small smile was playing on her lips, and she looked substantially more relaxed.

"I like us." She smiled at him and nodded in agreement as he leaned in to kiss her, but he couldn't finish what he'd started before she spoke again. "We're not just having fun." He let out a small sigh and shook his head. "We're not just having fun, Addison." She smiled again. "Good." This time she was the one who leaned in, and he groaned in frustration when she pulled away after a few seconds. "I'm going to need more than that. I'm sorry, but I'm a control freak. And I'm afraid of the unexpected." He smiled at the look of nervousness on her face. "I can't give you more than that, Addison. I can't promise there'll still be an us next year, or next month. Noone can promise that."

She knew he was right. She knew that, even if he promised they'd still be "together" in the future, there was no way of knowing for sure. But still, she didn't like his nonchalant air. He was making her feel like a paranoid person. And, you know what? Maybe she was. But she was entitled to some paranoid behaviors, considering this was the first relationship she was having since Derek and the first relationship of her life in LA. "So you're saying we're exactly where we were before you stood me up? Back to square one? Back to let's see what happens?" He didn't really know what he'd say to make her tense up and get mad, but he was hurt by her words. "You really think this is the same thing? Because if you really do think so, Addison, this is not gonna work."

They could feel the atmosphere surrounding them had drastically changed in the past few minutes. There was tension in the air, the kind of tension you can almost touch. "Well, what's different? That this time there was sex instead of just kissing? You're still telling me to wait it out, see what happens, go with the flow." In a normal situation, he'd have laughed at the way she'd said those last words. With her mocking hippie voice. The same voice she used for phrases like "I'm Pete, my touch heals". But this wasn't a normal situation, and he was too irritated to laugh. "You know what I want, Pete! You know I don't want to sit around and see what happens. And yet somehow you've managed to make me fall for the same crap all over again!"

She was beginning to raise her voice, and that only made him do the same in response. "What the hell do you want, Addison!? Do you want me to promise you we'll be together forever? Even if it's a lie? I'm trying here, dammit!" If she looked behind the thick curtain of anger, she could see she was also strangely fascinated by his outburst. She'd never met a match for her short temper, and it was kind of refreshing to have some feedback on her anger. She was well aware of the weirdness of that thought, but that didn't make it any less true. "You know what's different? Everything is different! I'm not telling you to wait it out, and I'm not telling you to sit around and see what happens. I'm asking you to work with me! I can't promise you we'll be together forever, but I can damn well tell you I'm ready to fight my ass off to make us stay together, and I want you to fight with me!"

Well, that was unexpected. But if there was something that Addison did even less often than controling her temper, that was apologizing. So, even though the rational part of her brain was telling her she'd acted like a bitch, she wasn't about to say she was sorry. "Fine!" The way she'd spat the word at him made him wonder if she'd actually understood what he'd told her. But when she handed him a slice of pizza and a beer, he chose to take it as an apology and smiled at her. "I'm still mad at you. And I want to tell people." He chuckled at what he thought was a joke, but her cold glare made him stop. "We can't tell people. There are rules. They are there for a reason."

She really was still mad. Well, not really. She was stressed out. She was nervous and she needed to do something to calm down. And, at that moment, a petty little banter sounded extremely appealing. "Yes, and the reason would be you and the previous OB/GYN." He shook his head in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me." She shoot him another death glare. "Do I look like I'm kidding?" He sighed before speaking again. "I slept with her. That was all. For me, anyway. She obviously thought there was more to it." She rolled her eyes at him. "Why does that sound familiar?" He was ready to reply when her cell phone rang and she held her hand up to make him wait.

"Hello?" He looked at her face, trying to figure out who it was. But he didn't have to wonder for too long. "Kevin, hey! No, this is not a bad moment." She could feel Pete's evil glare burning the back of her head, but she didn't care. It served him right for going all adult on her. "Tomorrow? Okay, I'm free for lunch. Pick me up at the practice?" The logical side of his brain was telling him they were just friends. Friends going out to have lunch. But the sheer intensity of his jealousy wasn't letting him listen to the logical side of his brain. "Great, see you then. Bye, Kev!" She hung up and turned around to face him, and she smirked to herself when she saw jealousy written all over his face.

"Thanks for asking if I had something planned for lunch tomorrow, by the way." He didn't have anything planned. But that wasn't the point. The point was, he was jealous out of his mind. "But then again, as long as we have Kev, what do we need Pete for, right?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest as she replied. "I can't have lunch with Pete, because I have to keep Pete secret. You know, because he couldn't keep his pants on around the other OB/GYN." He laughed at her words, and it only made her madder. "You're jealous of Sandra." She shoot him a death glare. "Oh, she has a name, now? Sandra?" His amusement was growing by the second as he looked at her display of jealousy. "And I'm not jealous of her, you're the one who's jealous, you're jealous of Kevin!"

"You go out with Kevin! You talk to him on the phone and you let everyone know you were dating him. And you call him Kev!" It was becoming increasingly harder not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "She had my job, and you slept with her! And it's her fault that we can't tell people!" Well, at least she was blaming her and not him now, that was something. "You call him Kev!" She couldn't believe he was making such a big deal out of a nickname. "You slept with her!" He was done trying to keep his cool. She was purposefully driving him insane, and he wasn't going to be mature if she wanted to act like a baby.

"You're an arrogant, bossy, unnervingly touchy woman, and you're driving me insane. And not in a good way!" She shot him an icy glare before matching his spiteful tone with one of her own. "You are the most cocky, unreasonable, stupidly jealous holistic quack I've ever met! And I don't want to talk to you anymore!" She walked briskly towards the door, but his voice stopped her. "This is your house!" Addison turned around and walked past him on the other direction. "Then I'm going upstairs!" The moment he heard her slam the door behind her, he couldn't help but laugh.

As hard as he tried, he couldn't make sense of their fight. It had been fun, though. And he knew it hadn't been serious. He didn't know if he should wait for her to come back down or if he should go upstairs. It had been her fault, so she should be the one to apologize. But then again, he was pretty sure she wasn't going to do so. And he didn't like not being with her. So, he wasn't doing it for her, he was doing it for himself. That's what he told himself as he walked upstairs and into her room, after waiting for about half an hour and noticing it was almost midnight already.

He didn't bother knocking on her door, and he smiled to himself when he saw she was in bed. "What are you doing here?" She tried to sound mad, but he could feel she'd been laughing as much as himself. "You're an arrogant, bossy, unnervingly touchy woman." She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Pete." He smiled as he walked towards the bed and sat on the spot next to her. "But you're my arrogant, bossy, unnervingly touchy woman, and I'm not going anywhere." She didn't want to smile, really. But she was only human, and she couldn't help it. "Fine, you can stay." He smirked as he took off his shirt and pants. "You love your cocky, unreasonable, stupidly jealous quack." She pulled back the sheets so he could lay next to her, trying not to smile too broadly. "Shut up."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her back close to his chest. "You owe me an apology." She placed her hands on top of his and smiled happily. "I'm still mad at you." Pete chuckled slightly as he closed his eyes, hoping for a painless night of rest after the previous sleepless night. "I can respect that. I'm still mad at you." Her voice sounded sleepy when she replied. "I can respect that."

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As always, many thanks to **Effi, Carolina 1986, AddielovesMen, hopelessromantic28, Ciaobella06, jb916, Karma22, saci, bleupastel, raes and agentaddek** for their nice words! You're the reason why I can't stop writing. Well, that and my unhealthy addiction to the Paddie, but you guys seriously keep me going :)

I know this was fluffy again. I know, really. I wasn't planning on writing chapter after chapter of pointless fluff. But I'm re-watching Grey's from the beginning, and I'm on season 2 right now. And the last episode I watched was the bomb one, with the "that's not the she he was asking for" moment, and my little Addie-loving heart broke in a million pieces. So, after screaming at Derek for a while, I decided to make her happy in the fic so I could feel better. I am not a sane person, in case you didn't know that already :P

Please read and review! If you like it, let me know, it makes me happy :) If you hate it, let me know, it'll make me improve :)


	14. Chapter 14

**14. They Were Doing It**

As she laid on top of him, trying to catch her breath, Addison couldn't help but think she wouldn't mind him waking her up in the middle of the night everyday from then on. She had to admit she hadn't been too happy when a loud thud (that she could only assume had come from him knocking something off the bedside table, since he was kneeling on the floor next to the bed) had startled her awake, but he had certainly made up for it after he climbed back into bed and announced that if he wasn't sleeping, she wasn't sleeping either. And, really, she wasn't going to complain.

To be completely honest, she had complained at first. Loudly. She could recall having groaned and whined at his words. Because, really, it was 4 a.m, and she needed her sleep. She wasn't a morning person, and 4 a.m was even worse than morning in her book. Plus, he didn't even have a good reason to wake her up, other than annoying her greatly. He just laid there, with her back to her and looking mad at everything and everyone in the world. She had to admit, though, shirtless Pete was nice to look at. And shirtless, serious Pete was even better. So, when she thought of the fact that he wasn't just shirtless, serious Pete, but shirtless, serious Pete in her bed and being half of that wonderful thing called _us_, she decided to take matters in her own hands.

She ignored his frown and moved closer to him, wrapping his arms around his waist. When he didn't turn around, she remembered their pseudo-fight of the night before, and she assumed he was still mad at her. To be honest, he had his reasons to be. And she didn't want him to stay mad, because, as nice to look at as serious Pete was, she much preferred happy Pete, because he made her happy. That's why she'd whispered an "I'm sorry about the fight" into his neck, and then placed a sweet kiss on the same spot, for good measure. And it certainly had worked, because after a few seconds, he turned around with a smile on his face and pulled her closer to kiss her in a way that made her forget about the time, the lack of sleep and the petty fights.

And that's why, almost an hour later, she couldn't complain about him waking her up. Especially not when he had his arms lazily wrapped around her body, and she could feel his breathing on her neck. She had to admit he was softening her. Not that it was neccessarily a bad thing, but it was certainly worth mentioning. She was soft, because she had no reason not to be. She didn't feel the need to protect herself behind a hard exterior. She knew, thinking logically, that there was a chance of her being hurt. That there was no way of knowing he'd be different than the ones before him. But what she did know for sure was that he made her feel completely safe, calm and relaxed. And, even if it was just an illusion, even if she was just being fooled by whatever it was that she was feeling for him, she was letting him soften her, because it felt completely right.

"I really, really like us." She had to smile at that, but she was too relaxed to form coherent sentences, so she gave him a small sound as an answer, and he smiled and chose to think it meant she agreed with his words. If he'd been less tired, he'd have laughed at the irony of being unable to stop smiling when an hour before he'd been ready to scream in frustration. But it was hard to stay mad, frustrated or annoyed when he had his arms around her and she was laying on top of him, looking both exhausted and content at the same time. And it wasn't just that he found her even more gorgeous than normal with her flushed cheeks and her sweaty hair sticking to her forehead. It was also the fact that he was the reason why she was looking like that. And he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for that.

He had to admit he hadn't planned what happened. The first time she kicked him, he'd shrugged it off and gone back to sleep. The second time, he'd groaned a bit and gently pushed her away from him. But, when she'd rolled onto his side of the bed and proceeded to kick him off the bed, he thought he'd had enough. He climbed back into bed and shot her his best evil glare, which he was pretty sure she'd missed as she was still half asleep, and then told her neither of them were sleeping that night. And he meant it. He wasn't going to let her sleep while he had to put up with her violent sleeping habits.

He didn't want to smile when she wrapped her arms around him. He was pissed off. It was the second night in a row that she kept kicking him in her sleep, and he wasn't happy at all. But then she'd whispered she was sorry, apparently worried about him being still mad after their fight, and he couldn't help but turn around and kiss her. And he could say that, even though he knew there was no way he was getting any sleep now, he wasn't going to complain. Not at all.

He was well aware of the fact that she had him wrapped around her finger. He was pretty sure she didn't know it yet, but he knew it was just a matter of time before she found out. He had to admit there was nothing he wouldn't do if she asked. And he knew his friends would laugh mercilessly at him when they found out. He couldn't blame them, really, he'd have laughed too if it had been someone else. But it was him, and even though he'd promised himself not to let any woman have that effect on him again, the truth was he wouldn't change it for the world.

They stayed like that for a while, just being close to each other. They knew they should be ashamed of themselves for the almost unbearable sweetness of the situation, but they decided to let the shame wait for a while. Right now, they were too busy being happy to do anything else. It wasn't just that they were happy because after almost five months of walking in circles around each other they were finally together. It was also that, after years of heartache, failed relationships and pain in general, they felt like they'd finally found what they were looking for. And that meant they had every right to take a moment to be cheesy if they wanted to.

But the moment ended as soon as he looked at her alarm clock and realized he had to get up if he wanted to be at work on time. "Time to go." She pouted after a quick kiss. "It's early." Pete chuckled and kissed her again, trying to steal a few more minutes before he had to leave. "I have to stop by my place to have a shower and get changed. It's not early." She had to agree with him. "No more us till after work." He smiled at her and got up from the bed, knowing staying with her would only make him want to skip work. "No more us till after work." Pete got dressed and gave her one last quick kiss before leaving. "I'll be here at 6" And she couldn't help but smile as he left her room.

As she drove to the practice, Addison had to talk herself into acting like nothing had changed. She had to pretend Pete was still just Pete, and she had to pretend the previous two nights had never happened. Which was very hard, considering she felt like telling everyone. But she knew he was right and they should keep it to themselves, at least for a while, and that's what she kept telling herself. It's not that he doesn't want it to be serious, it's just that there are rules. And she chose to ignore the tinge of jealousy when her mind drifted off to the previous OB/GYN. Because people would ask questions if she threw his tea at him after yelling about "Sandra". She had to laugh at herself. Addison Montgomery didn't get jealous like this. But then again, Addison Montgomery had never been with Pete Wilder before, and that might have something to do with it.

Both Pete and Addison were proud of themselves and each other after the morning meeting. Not a single smirk or flirty comment was exchanged between them, and this time even their friends seemed to buy their act, because noone looked at them as if they expected them to jump each other any minute. Well, to be fair, Violet had looked at them like that. But noone noticed, so all was well. And so, after exchanging breakfast beverages, they got to work, feeling much more relaxed than before.

After his first patient, and knowing he had free time until after lunch, Pete decided to lay down for a bit on his acupuncture table, hoping to get at least an hour of sleep. Sharing Addison's bed was great, and he wouldn't change it for having his own bed to himself, but two sleepless nights in a row were too much. He needed sleep to function normally. And he was far from impressed when he heard the sound of high heels walking briskly towards him when he'd only had his eyes closed for five minutes.

"Are we tired?" Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the flirty smirk on her face. And he couldn't blame her, because as far as she knew, he was exhausted for the same reason that she couldn't stop smiling. And, to be fair, she'd pretty much pinned him down and told him she wasn't gonna let him do all the work that night. So it was only fair that she took credit for everything that happened between her pinning him down and her letting herself fall on top of him with an exhausted and content look on her face. So he decided not to snap at her because of the smirk. Because she deserved to smirk.

"We're exhausted." She smiled at his barely audible voice and closed eyes. He was cute when he was sleepy. Not sexy, like he always was. He was cute. "I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk or something. You know, get away from this place where there's no us. I don't like places where there's no us." He smiled slightly at her words, but he didn't open his eyes. "I just wanna sleep now. We'll go out tonight if you want to." She didn't like his answer. She got that he was tired. Really, she was tired too. But she didn't appreciate being ditched for an acupuncture table.

"Come on, Pete." He was getting dangerously close to snapping. He was sleep-deprived and cranky, and she was being pushy. "Addison, please, just let me sleep." She didn't know if he was really this tired or if he was doing it just to piss her off, but she wasn't happy at all. "We got 5 hours of sleep, Pete, it's not the end of the world!" He was sorry, but he couldn't keep his cool anymore. "No, you got five hours, Addison! I got a few minutes with your constant kicking!" She looked confused at him. "What? I don't kick people in my sleep. I haven't done that for years." And it was true. Derek had complained at the beginning of their relationship, but then she'd stopped and she couldn't remember the last time she'd kicked him in her sleep.

"You do kick people in your sleep! I have bruises that prove it!" She felt bad about it, but she was getting angrier by the second. Did he really have to be this snappy about it? "Will you stop being a baby about everything? So I kick around a bit, big deal!" He had stood up and was now facing her, his face showing how utterly frustrated he felt. "You kick around a bit? You kicked me off the bed after rolling onto my side!" She blushed slightly, feeling terrible about it, but she wasn't going to apologize when he was overreacting and being kind of an ass about it. "It's my bed, Pete, you don't have a side!"

"Yes, I do! The side next to you? That's my side!" She was aware of the fact that they were now arguing about his side of the bed, which was even more ridiculous than their fight from the night before. But she decided to embrace the petty fighting, since it seemed to be a constant in their relationship. "No, it's not! Both sides are my sides in my bed!" She knew exactly when he'd realized this wasn't a real fight anymore. Because there was the tiniest hint of a smirk on his lips, and his eyes softened considerably. "You wanted to be us? Well, this is us, and it comes with bed privileges!" She had to work hard not to laugh. "No, it doesn't! I don't get a side on your bed, you don't get a side on mine!" He moved slightly closer to her, making sure he kept his distance. "You do get a side on my bed, Addie, the side next to me! Because when there's an us, the side next to mine on every bed in the world becomes your side by default!"

"Aww, that's so sweet." Pete was sure Addison hadn't said that. And her horrified face told him he was right. And then they turned around to look at the door, which had been left open by her, and saw the rest of the doctors looking at them. Judging by the way Sam and Violet's hands covered her mouth, Naomi had been the one with the appreciative comment. "We were just..." Addison didn't really know what to say. "Consult. Thing." She cocked an eyebrow at him. Okay, she hadn't been too brilliant, but even she could do better than that. After pushing the two hands off her mouth, Naomi spoke in a pretend stern voice. "Conference room." They all walked there, Pete and Addison looking like they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"You know there are rules! Rules are there for a reason!" Pete and Addison nodded at Naomi's words, knowing she was right. "Nai, calm down." They smiled gratefully at Sam. "Okay. What is this?" Naomi looked slightly out of her mind. Which was only normal, considering she didn't know what was going on between her best friend and Pete, and she wanted to know. "What?" Pete wasn't completely sure what she meant. "What is this? Is this sex? Is this a fling? Is this a serious, committed relationship? What is this?" This time, Addison was the one who spoke. "This is Pete and Addison. We don't really know anything else." Naomi tried not to smile, but her best friend's happiness was infectious. "If you make her run away, I will kill you." Pete nodded emphatically after smiling at Naomi. "Same goes for you." Addison laughed and nodded as well. "And no nasty stuff in the workplace." They both nodded innocently and, luckily for her, everyone missed the look Sam shoot her after she spoke.

A few minutes later, everyone except for Pete and Addison were in Violet's office, talking about what had happened. "I told you they were doing it." Violet slapped Cooper's arm. "They aren't doing it. They are... mushy and happy." Naomi said those words with a hint of confusion in her voice. "I'm almost afraid to say this, but I think they may love each other." Everyone nodded at Sam's words. "So, Pete got his act together and finally got into a committed relationship. Which means you, Cooper, owe me 50 bucks." Cooper glared at Violet before handing her the money. "And she got into a committed relationship with Addison, which means Dr. Sam Bennett owes me another 50." Sam, who was laughing at Cooper, suddenly stopped to frown at her. "And she looked happy about it, which means..."

Naomi interrupted her. "That I owe you 50. Shut up already. You knew, you cheated." Violet laughed as she put the three bills in her pocket. "I've been listening to them whine and moan for five months. I've been putting up with their stupid mutual crush, and then their stupid mutual more-than-crush, and then their stupid mutual love. I calmed her down before a date and helped him choose a tie. I deserve this money!" Cooper shook his head. "Wow, someone needs to..." Violet slapped his arm. "Don't even think about it, Cooper."

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Thank you so very much for taking the time to review **Melanie, raes, AddielovesMen, hopelessromantic28, jb916, agentaddek, saci, bleupastel and Effi**!

Sorry it took me so long, work has been nuts this week. I hope you like it, please read and review:)


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. Shonda still owns it all.

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**15.**** Some Things Never Change**

"I can't find my blue shirt. I can't go." Addison rolled her eyes at the voice coming from upstairs. "Just wear another shirt, Pete. And you have to go." She placed three glasses on the coffee table and walked back to the kitchen to get the wine. "I like that shirt. Where is it? And I don't see why I have to go." Addison sighed and placed the bottle next to the glasses. "Are you sure it's here? It may still be at your place. And you have to go because they are our friends and they need us." She looked proudly at the small appetizers she'd made with Pete's help, and took one of the plates to the coffee table. "Yes, Addison, I'm sure it's here. I wore it the other day when we went to that concert and... ohh, found it!" She smiled at him as he walked downstairs buttoning up his blue shirt. "Where was it?"

Pete pouted when she slapped his hand away from the appetizers. "Hidden among all your shirts and dresses." Even though he still had his own house, Pete's clothes had been slowly but surely moving into her closet, because he didn't want to have to leave early every morning to get changed at his place before work. And the previously empty spaces on the shelves in the living room were now filled with candles, incense sticks and other holistic paraphernalia. Apparently, he was determined to redecorate her house according to the Feng-Shui book he had been reading. "Can't we just pretend we're not home?"

After being with him for two months, she'd gotten much better at not stopping thinking the moment he got near her, and she chuckled as she stepped away from him. "They are our best friends, and they need us." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Pete. You're going next door and you're going to listen to Sam." She closed her eyes when he trailed soft kisses from her ear to her shoulder, and she mentally kicked herself for letting him get away with it. "And you're not gonna tell him... you know..." She had gotten better at it, but a month and a half was not nearly enough to become immune to the combination of his smell, his hands on her waist and his teeth on her neck. "Pete... you're not gonna tell him..."

As amused as he was seeing her try to form a coherent sentence while fighting the urge to press him against a wall and have her way with him, he wanted the talking to stop so they could focus on other things. "I'm not gonna tell him Naomi's here with you and Violet. I know." And, since he obviously didn't need her to remind him to be discreet, she chose to forget about the talking, at least for now. To be perfectly honest, the heat of his breath on her skin when he'd whispered those words into her neck would have been enough to convince her to stop talking, but she chose to believe she was only doing this because he already knew what he had to do.

He couldn't say he was surprised when she pulled his head away from her neck to kiss him. Over the last eight weeks, Pete had learnt a lot about her, and one of the things he'd learnt was the exact spot he had to kiss to make her melt almost literally. How the kiss she gave him had only stayed partially innocent for barely two seconds did surprise him, though. Not that he was complaining. He certainly wasn't going to complain about her tongue parting his lips, and her fingers sliding up the back of his neck and into his hair. No, he wasn't going to complain. He _was_ going to pick her up and settle her on the counter, though. Just because he thought she'd be more comfortable that way. And the way she wrapped her legs around his waist certainly wasn't hurting, either.

It really was remarkable how after eight weeks together they still couldn't be alone for more than five minutes without one of them ending up pressed against a wall (usually Pete) or lifted onto a random surface (always Addison). It was also remarkable how after eight weeks together they still hadn't been caught stealing a kiss between patients, or taking advantage of having to stay later than everyone else at the clinic. They were proud of themselves for that. Because, even though their friends had accepted their relationship, they had made it very clear that they didn't want them doing anything relationship-related at the clinic.

And now, Addison was trying very hard to keep at least a little bit of self control while his hands moved up from her waist to her chest, and she subconsciously wrapped her legs tighter around him. Which, as he would have told her if he hadn't been too busy kissing her like there was no tomorrow, wasn't really helping _him_ with the self control. And so, she couldn't really blame him when he slid one of his hands under her top, because she would have done the same if he hadn't been wearing a button-down shirt. A button-down shirt which, by the way, was only two buttons away from being completely undone, thanks to her. "Addie, I wanted to... Oh."

Addison immediately blushed when she looked at the door, her skin matching her hair as she pulled her lips away from his after a moment of shock. "Nai, I..." Pete shoot Naomi an apologetic smile, but she wasn't really buying it. "You people are disgusting. Take your hand out of my best friend's top!" Pete jumped away from Addison, startled by Naomi's scream. "You can't scream at me here, this is my territory." Naomi crossed her arms over her chest. "This is Addie's territory, and I'm her best friend."

Addison rolled her eyes. Over the last eight weeks, Pete and Naomi had been having petty little fights about whose turn it was to have lunch alone with her, or who had the right to talk to her when she wasn't feeling good, or whatever it was that caught their attention that day. "Oh, really? Well, are your panties in her drawer? Because my boxers are." His cocky smirk made Addison smile, but she tried not to smile too broadly in case Naomi noticed. "Fine, it's your territory too." Pete's smirk grew at her words. "Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear. I'll leave you girls alone now. Have fun." He kissed both of their cheeks and left for Sam's house, grabbing one of the appetizers on his way out.

Violet arrived shortly after Pete had left, and she sat on the couch next to Naomi after taking one of the glasses and pouring herself some wine. "How do I know?" Violet rolled her eyes. "My God, Naomi, he's your ex-husband. If you don't know, nobody knows." Addison gave Naomi's arm a reassuring squeeze. "Don't listen to her, she's still bitter and sober. You just know." Violet finished her glass and poured herself a second one as Naomi shook her head. "I don't know. I mean, I do know. I love Sam. I do. I just don't know!" She looked pleadingly at her best friend. "How did you know?"

"What do you mean how did I know?" Addison was slightly confused. "How did I know what?" Violet rolled her eyes. "How did you know you wanted to give it a try, Addison. And if this is gonna be a girly romantic night, I'm gonna need more wine." Addison sighed before she spoke. "I already told you, Nai. I was in love with him, there was no way I wasn't giving it a try." Violet and Naomi looked at her in confusion until Naomi finally understood. "Not Derek! I was talking about Pete." It was Addison's turn to look confused now. "Pete? But that's not the same thing, he's not my ex-husband." Violet interrupted their conversation. "All right, no offense, but I don't think Naomi wants to take you and your ex-husband as an example."

On the house next to them, Cooper, Sam and Pete were talking in the kitchen. "I want to be with her. I just don't know how to show her." Pete shook his head. "She used to be your wife. How hard can it be to know how to show her you mean what you say?" Cooper nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I mean, she's Naomi. You know her better than anyone else. How hard can it be?" Sam finished his beer, looking frustrated. "It's hard. I don't know what to do. I don't want to say something I don't really mean. I don't want to make her think we'll remarry tomorrow, because we won't." Pete nodded at his words. "How did you show Addison?"

Pete thought for a moment before answering his question. "I brought her her favorite coffee to work everyday. I still do that. I talked to her about baseball, and listened to her talk about shoes. I asked Dell for the Green Thing recipe. I just... I showed her I cared." Cooper stared at him in disbelief. "Hold on. You're telling me that crap actually works?" Pete finished his beer. "I got the girl, didn't I?" Sam had been listening intently. "So it's what you said that night, then? It's the little things?" Pete nodded at his words. "It's the little things."

Back at Addison's place, Naomi had finally managed to make her talk. "It was... I don't know. The day he almost punched Kevin, when I left, I kind of looked at us from the outside. I got some distance for a few hours. And I saw the big picture." Naomi nodded at her words. "You know, the whole thing. And I just knew." Violet nodded along with her friend. "It's realizing the big picture isn't complete without him bugging the hell out of you day after day." Addison chuckled at her words, surprised to hear how much she knew about this. "There she is, Violet the Wise. And drunk, of course." Naomi smiled and repeated her words. "The big picture."

Now that Violet was in the mood for girly talks and gossiping fun, and Naomi was far more relaxed than before, the three friends changed the subject and they were soon opening the third bottle of wine and laughing so hard Addison was worried about the men hearing them from the house next door. "...and Sam, Mark and Derek made us go anyway, so Addie refused to get dressed to see if they'd let her stay home. I have the moment they carried her out of the apartment wearing her pajamas on film." Violet burst out laughing and Addison pouted slightly, trying to think of an even more embarrassing story to get back at Naomi. "I may die if I don't see that video."

Addison turned around and smiled at Pete, who was standing on the doorway. "I'm sorry, but there's no way you're watching that." He chuckled and walked over to them. "Are you girls done? Or should I go walk around with Cooper for a little longer?" Violet glared at him, mad about him cutting their wine-and-gossip time short. "You can always go to your place, you know." Pete pretended to think for a moment as he took Addison's glass from her and took a sip of her wine. "My toothbrush is here, I can't go to my place." He handed the glass back to Addison. "I like it. What is it?" She shifted on the couch to make room for him, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders as soon as he sat down. "Lambrusco di Sorbara. We had it the other day, when we went to that restaurant in..."

"Kick him out. He's ruining our girls' night in, and he's not even a girl." Violet had interrupted Addison, and she was still glaring at Pete. "I can't go, I told Cooper I'd wait for him here." Violet's face softened considerably at that. "Oh. Okay, then." Naomi laughed and shook her head. "I'm going home, Maya doesn't like me staying out late." Addison smiled at her friend. "Big picture, Nai." She smiled back at Addison and hugged her. "Big picture." As soon as she left, Pete looked questioningly at Addison. "Big picture?" Addison was about to answer when Cooper walked inside.

"Where's Naomi?" Cooper sat down next to Violet and gently took her glass from her and placed it out of her reach. "She's already left. And I'm leaving too, it's late and those two want to go to bed." She pointed at Pete and Addison, who laughed at her. "Violet, you can stay here. I don't think you should be alone tonight." Cooper shook his head at Addison's words. "How about I stay with you tonight, Vi? We haven't talked in a while." Pete cocked his eyebrow at the scene in front of him. He knew Cooper was seeing Charlotte King. He had told them what he planned to do that night as soon as he got to her place. And he was apparently passing on that to take care of his friend.

As Violet and Cooper walked out of the door, Pete smirked at his friends. "Little things?" Cooper chuckled and nodded softly. "That's right." As they closed the door behind them, Addison cocked her eyebrow at him. "Little things?" Pete smiled and followed her upstairs. "Little things that help you get the girl. Like bringing her coffee to work, and talking about shoes." She chuckled as she took off her shoes and pants. "So you were following a plan all along? I feel used now." He smiled and put his clothes on a chair next to the bed. "Well, it worked, didn't it? What was that big picture thing about anyway?" She pulled on her Star Wars t-shirt and climbed into bed. "The big picture. When you look at the big picture and you realize you want to give it a try."

He got into bed and pulled her close, letting her place her feet between his legs, both to keep them warm and because he'd figured out it was the only way to make her stop kicking. "So you're telling me it wasn't the little things? I didn't give you fireworks, it wasn't the little things... I feel a bit useless." She turned around to face him. "Who said you didn't give me the fireworks?" A smile instantly appeared on his face when she looked at him. She had that effect on him. "I was the one who saw fireworks after the date." She thought about that for a moment, and smiled as she remembered the date. "I saw fireworks. I just didn't notice." He cocked his eyebrow at her. "How can you not notice that?"

She smiled and moved closer to him. "Because there were fireworks all the time. With the coffee, and the talks, and the flirting, and everything. I only noticed when they stopped. That's when I saw the big picture. When the fireworks stopped." A small smile appeared on his face. "So you saw fireworks?" She chuckled and stole a quick kiss from him. "I saw fireworks." He suddenly didn't feel like sleeping. He wanted to celebrate the fact that he had given her her fireworks. "So it was the little things?" To be honest, now that he'd pinned her down on the mattress, she would have said yes even if it hadn't been true. It took her a second to catch her breath when he pulled away after giving her one of those earth-shattering kisses she liked so much. "It was the little things."

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Thank you for reviewing, **jakie, raes, jb916, Ciaobella06, saci, hopelessromantic28 and Effi**! And also thank you to everyone who reviewed in the previous chapters, I really, really appreciate it, and this story is definitely all yours :)

Ok, so this is it! Let me know if you loved it or hated it (or liked it or disliked it). Reviews aren't just nice, but also help me improve :) Also, if you have any suggestions for the sequel, like things you'd like to see happening to them either in LA or in the Rainy Hellhole (or even somewhere else), let me know! Ideas are always more than welcome :)


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